LEWISTON – Jon Beausang of Greene asked simple questions about the Androscoggin River on Thursday night.

But he, and others attending the Maine Department of Environmental Protection meeting, didn’t get clear answers. DEP staffers explained they were there to hear public comment about the river’s water quality.

Beausang owns property along the river. “I want to know, can I bring my 15-month grandchild to the river? Can he swim in it? If not, why not?”

Susan Davies, DEP’s water quality standard coordinator, said any health risks depend on what part of the river someone’s talking about, and river conditions. The river is different during low flow or high flow.

Jonathan LaBonte of the Androscoggin Land Trust said it’s tough for an average citizen to understand health risks. People hear the river is Class C, which means swimmable and fishable. But they also hear part of the river doesn’t meet that standard.

Confusing “alphabet soup” regulations mean “nothing to the average person,” LaBonte said. People need to know what “the true health risks might or might not be if their canoe flips over.” That information is not available, which inhibits use of the river his group is trying to promote, LaBonte said. He asked the state to provide that information.

Faye Brown of Lisbon Falls agreed. She takes a shower after she kayaks on the river. She wonders and worries when she sees other boaters, young men jumping off a train trestle and kids swimming in the river.

Others attending the hearing asked DEP to:

• Upgrade water quality classifications. Ed Friedman of the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay said the southern part of the river should go from Class C to Class B, a move the state opposes. “This is the river that was the impetus for Sen. Muskie to get the Clean Water Act going. Here it is still the poor stepchild of rivers in the state. It’s time to change that,” Friedman said.

• Force municipalities to invest in preventing sewage from getting into the river. Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, said he’s worked for laws to improve water quality. Today paper mills on the river “are among the cleanest in the country,” Nutting said. His concern is municipal sewage getting into the river during heavy rains.

• Not allow anyone to discharge anything into the river. Legislative candidate Brian Bolduc of Auburn said if elected he’ll push for laws to prohibit any pollution. “No one has the right to discharge anything into a public water.”

Some people told DEP that plumes of discharges from the Verso paper mill in Jay violated the Clean Water Act, and questioned why the state wasn’t enforcing the law.

DEP responded that the law said the discharges cannot cause the river to be unsuitable for use, which is different than saying the plumes are illegal. Several residents said they were bothered by the plumes, and stayed out of the river because of them.

Verso spokesmen Bill Cohen said the plumes are coating used on paper that escapes machines during the paper-making process. Verso has installed coating recovery filters to reduce the plume, which contains clay and nontoxic chemicals.

“Will you not see a plume again? I cannot say,” Cohen said, adding that Verso is doing something about it, and the frequency and length of plumes have been reduced.

DEP staffers said they will consider comment they heard when recommending law changes to state legislators next winter.