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.
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PublishedFebruary 26, 2025
Get toxic firefighting foam out of Maine, lawmakers told
Residents of Brunswick Landing, the site of Maine’s worst toxic firefighting foam spill, joined environmental groups to urge lawmakers to quantify the amount of foam in Maine and fund a voluntary program to collect, store and dispose of it.
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PublishedFebruary 24, 2025
Are taller seawalls the answer to rising seas and storm surge?
A bill would allow coastal seawalls to be raised by 2 feet to protect coastal homes, property and roads, but opponents claim higher walls would flood neighboring properties and result in sandy beach loss.
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PublishedFebruary 15, 2025
Maine farmers left in limbo by federal funding freeze
Despite having signed government contracts, farmers who have spent money on projects to conserve soil, water and power have been told they cannot get reimbursed until USDA programs and policies are reviewed by Elon Musk’s DOGE team.
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PublishedFebruary 7, 2025
Maine DEP: $50M sludge bond would preserve landfill space
The proposal to bond funding for grants to help local sewer districts tackle the statewide sludge-disposal problem needs approval by a legislative committee and two-thirds of the House and Senate before it could be sent to voters in November.
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PublishedJanuary 28, 2025
A year of extremes: 2024 was Maine’s hottest on record
The year of extreme weather began with floods and ended with a drought, and set a new record high average annual temperature across the state.
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PublishedJanuary 28, 2025
Maine airports seek exemption from wildlife protection laws
Aviation officials and businesses say a bill to exempt airports from state protections for Maine’s endangered or threatened species would prevent wildlife collisions, but environmental groups say the protections are needed.
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PublishedJanuary 22, 2025
With funds running out, Maine is at a PFAS crossroads
A multiagency presentation before lawmakers warns of the difficulty the state will face trying to meet the needs of residents adversely affected by the spreading of sewage sludge containing forever chemicals.
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PublishedJanuary 21, 2025
Mills proposes $2M for preventative spruce budworm spraying
The early intervention program, modeled after one in New Brunswick, would fund the spring spraying of pesticides on 300,000 acres of commercial spruce-fir forests in northern Maine where state inspectors have found evidence of overwintering budworm larvae.
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PublishedJanuary 15, 2025
PFAS contamination found on more than 100 Maine farms
The state’s ambitious multiyear investigation into PFAS contamination from sludge-based fertilizer is not yet halfway done, but costs are mounting as new federal protections arise from mounting scientific evidence of potential human health risks.
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PublishedJanuary 14, 2025
Forever chemicals in sludge fertilizer pose cancer risk, EPA says
Draft findings published Tuesday echo what Maine has been saying since 2022, when it became the first state to ban the use of sludge as fertilizer because of high concentrations of harmful PFAS.
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