New rules recommended by the Board of Environmental Protection would allow the testing needed to build an open-pit mine over a large lithium-rich deposit at Plumbago Mountain in Newry.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Posted inBusiness, Maine, Politics
Maine House approves food waste recycling mandate
The bill would require some large producers of food waste to find beneficial uses rather than put it into the waste stream.
advertisement
Posted inMaine, News
Forever chemicals in landfills threaten groundwater, streams and rivers
There is no evidence the pollutant-laden wastewater that forms when rain trickles through a landfill is escaping from the holding tanks, ponds or lagoons where it is stored, but then again, no one is looking.
Posted inMaine
Maine towns confront climate choice: Rebuild a road or save a marsh?
A decision by Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth to remove a low-lying road through the Spurwink Marsh is an example of managed retreat in the face of climate change and the difficult choices facing communities all along the coast.
Posted inBusiness, Maine
State panel rejects proposed mine near Baxter State Park
The Land Use Planning Commission voted 5-2 Wednesday to deny the rezoning bid from Wolfden LLC.
Posted inMaine, News
Storms, flooding heighten concerns about Maine’s stormwater pollution
The intense rainstorms in December and January washed a soup of various pollutants into Casco Bay and other coastal waters.
Posted inBusiness, Food, Maine
Maine may join rest of New England in banning food scraps from landfills
Supporters want lawmakers to do something about rotting food waste, which produces dangerous levels of methane gas. But critics of the proposal say a ban would be too costly for the state and businesses.
Posted inBusiness, Maine, News
Maine DEP moves to fast-track recovery permits after destructive winter storms
Lawmakers hope to ease some environmental regulations so people can build more durable infrastructure and recover more quickly after January’s storms.
Posted inMaine
Storm-battered Maine communities look to state funding to prepare for warmer, wetter future
Gov. Janet Mills wants to invest $50 million into a fund that is already helping communities across the state prepare for more storms fueled by climate change.
Posted inBusiness, Maine, News
Staff urges land-use planning board to reject Pickett Mountain mine rezoning
The proposal calls for rezoning 374 acres of land about 20 miles east of Katahdin to create a metallic mineral mine at Pickett Mountain.