PHILLIPS — Representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public information meeting Wednesday on a proposal to renew the Phillips Fish Hatchery discharge license.

The hatchery is currently not in operation. However, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, which owns the hatchery, has a valid discharge license, Brian Kavanah, manager of the DEP Division of Water Quality, said.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Phillips Area Community Gym.

The license needs to be renewed every five years and DIFW wants to renew the discharge license, Kavanah said.

Water from the hatchery would drain into Meadow Brook Stream, a class A stream.

The Toothaker Pond Association has objected to reopening the hatchery and continued discharge into Meadow Brook, association representative Adrienne Rollo said in a news release.

There are two issues, Kavanah said. The renewal of the discharge license and the people around Toothaker Pond being concerned about water quality.

There is a project under way where some of the flow from Meadow Brook Stream is being diverted into Toothaker Pond in an attempt to improve the pond’s water quality, Kavanah said.

The association is concerned that if the hatchery becomes operational again that water in the stream could be diverted into the pond, Kavanah said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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