The Sun Journal editorial of Feb. 20 urged opposition to a bill the Maine Municipal Association is supporting that would allow municipalities to decide the locations of where they pile accumulated snow without the Department of Environmental Protection  licensing process currently required.

The editorial began with the line “Allowing municipalities to dump snow directly into rivers and streams, or to store it near them, is a very bad idea that was abandoned years ago for good reason.”

There is already a state law that prohibits the dumping of snow into the fresh waters of the state, and the proposed legislation in no way would amend or weaken that statutory prohibition.

The editorial also included testimony about the good work of the city of Lewiston in containing its snow dump area and we agree with the evidence that municipalities are attuned to good environmental practices and will do all that is prudent and practical to protect the environmental integrity of their communities.

At issue, apparently, is whether the towns and cities that have an immediate need to remove snow from the streets for public safety reasons can be trusted to handle and deposit that accumulated snow responsibly.

With Lewiston as an exception, the Sun Journal apparently believes that is not the case.

In contrast, the Maine Municipal Association believes that the local legislative bodies, whether the town meeting or town or city council, are capable of making quality decisions concerning the health and welfare of their communities.

Given some reasonable standards about what physically constitutes a “snow dump,” MMA believes the siting decisions can be made at the municipal level.

That we disagree is fair game, but the Sun Journal should do its homework. No one is saying that accumulated snow should be directly discharged into fresh water.

This legislation doesn’t allow that, and the Sun Journal should not say that it does.

Greg Connors, Augusta

Editor’s note: Greg Connors is legislative advocate for the Maine Municipal Association.