Riverfronts: A Legacy of Pollution, A Trend Towards Renewal...
Maine's rivers have served as industrial conduits and transportation corridors for decades, but we now tend to view them as tremendous environmental resources that are directly linked to the quality of life in our state. Odors, water color, clarity, and overall appearance of the rivers has changed for the better in recent years, but other environmental concerns, beyond the obvious, such as historic contamination and now real estate development, continue to pose challenges to our river systems. Urban centers naturally developed along the major rivers, so we now face the challenge of establishing the means by which these two seemingly contradictory settings can co-exist. In this session a discussion of these challenges and opportunities will serve to provide a base of understanding of the unique situation surrounding Maine's river fronts.

Session Chair:
Noreen G. Copp, Eaton Peabody Consulting
Noreen is the Director of Economic Development at Eaton Peabody Consulting Group, LLC. She works with public and private sector clients on a wide range of projects aimed at generating economic growth and community development. Noreen has an extensive background in the development and analysis of tax increment financing programs, and in downtown and waterfront development and revitalization. She serves as Director of the Capital Riverfront Improvement District in Augusta. Appointed in 1999 to the Augusta Development Commission by the Augusta City Council, Noreen is Chair of the Commission's Downtown Committee. As Chair, she spearheaded the creation of a downtown TIF district and instituted a "Downtown Forum" which is a collaboration of several independent organizations and the City of Augusta. Noreen is adept at organizing and engaging citizen volunteers and groups in a community's downtown revitalization efforts.
 

Heather Caron1, John Lichter1, Jaret Reblin1, Tom Squires2, Charlie Todd3,Tim Pasakarnis1
1. The Environmental Studies Program, Bowdoin College
2. Department of Marine Resources
3. Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

The Degradation and Partial Recovery of a Globally Rare, Freshwater Tidal Ecosystem: The story of Merrymeeting Bay
Merrymeeting Bay is a large, freshwater tidal ecosystem located 27km inland from Maine's Atlantic coast at the confluence of the Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers. The bay and its tributaries once supported immense numbers of migrating waterfowl and anadromous fish as well as hundreds of nesting bald eagles. Two centuries of degradation have left behind a legacy of environmental tales that serve as both a learning experience and a living timeline of industrial revolution in America. Such events as the building of dams, over fishing and the pollution contributed by municipal and industrial operations left their mark on the bay.

The collapse of anadromous fish runs came in the 1940s when acidic waste being dumped into the rivers by the pulp mills severely depleted the oxygen concentrations. By 1979, the numbers of nesting bald eagles dwindled to one nesting pair; the shells of the eagle eggs contained some of the highest concentration of DDT found in the northeastern United States.

Improvement efforts brought unexpected changes to the bay. In an effort to improve the smell from the sulphite-pulp mills nitrogen fertilizer was dumped into the bay, this may have resulted in the growth of wild rice (Zizanea aquatica and Zizanea palustris), an intertidal vegetation that attracted large numbers of waterfowl to the area.

The passing of the Clean Water Act in 1972 brought about a gradual recovery of the bay from mandatory pollution control measures. In the past fifteen years the number of nesting bald eagles has rebounded and some species of anadromous fish have returned to the rivers. In spite of the improvement in water quality and the rebound of some animal populations, a new chapter in the environmental history of Merrymeeting Bay begins with potential threats from trace substance pollution, invasive species, suburban sprawl and recreational overuse.
 

Matthew Bernier, P.E., Civil and Environmental Engineer, Kleinschmidt Associates
P.O. Box 576, Pittsfield, Maine 04967, 207/487-3328 phone, matt.bernier@kleinschmidtUSA.com

East Branch Sebasticook River Restoration
In 2002, to restore upstream passage for anadromous (sea run) alewives, the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Town of Newport, Maine, removed the Guilford Dam, which impounded the Mill Pond on the East Branch Sebasticook River. During a dredging project that had occurred in 1980, the river had been channelized into a straight, narrow reach that was found to be unstable after dam removal, as the river eroded its bed and banks in an attempt to restore its historic bends and riffles. This erosion threatened an archaeological site, home to Native American artifacts thousands of years old, including tools, campfires and anadromous fish bones.

Kleinschmidt Associates of Pittsfield, Maine was hired by the Town of Newport for restoration design of an 800-foot long stretch of the East Branch Sebasticook River between the Center Street and Main Street (Route 2) bridges. The channel design had several ambitious goals, including protecting the archaeological site from erosion; providing a stable, natural channel with bends, pools and riffles that could be navigated by migrating alewives; restoring native vegetation in floodplains; protecting bridges and developed stream banks from scour; improving fish and wildlife habitat; and providing public access for walking, fishing and bird watching. Another major goal of the project was to improve the aesthetics of downtown Newport through expanded green space and inspire the revitalization of shops and office space along the riverfront.

Kleinschmidt provided the Town of Newport with river restoration design services, including construction monitoring. The construction occurred in the summer of 2003 and was hailed by many agencies, water resources professionals and townspeople as a downtown success story and a good model for restoration. The project won an Environmental Excellence Award from the Maine chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies as one of the state's outstanding engineering projects for 2003.
 

Stan Moses, Assistant Community Development Director, City of Bangor
73 Harlow Street, Bangor, ME 04401, 207/945-4400 x211, stan.moses@bgrme.org

Bringing Access to Bangor's Foremost Natural Resource
This session will present the background of the Bangor Waterfront, its condition and land uses in the early 1980's, the City's long-term redevelopment vision, actions taken to acquire and clear former industrial uses, environmental remediation, master plan development, infrastructure improvements, solicitation for redevelopment, development interest and proposals, current status, and future actions.
 

Michael S. Bank, University of Maine1, Cynthia S. Loftin, United States Geological Survey2, Aria Amirbahman, University of Maine3, John Peckenham, Mitchell Center, University of Maine4, Terry A. Haines, University of Maine1
1. Dept. of Biological Sciences, 5722 Deering Hall, Orono, ME 04469, 207/581-2961, michael_bank@umit.maine.edu
2. Maine Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, 210 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME 04469
3. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Boardman Hall, Orono, ME
4. 5710 Norman Smith Hall, Orono, ME 04469

Mercury bioaccumulation in lotic and lentic amphibians from Acadia National Park, Maine
Mercury bioaccumulation of amphibians has received little attention despite widespread mercury contamination of surface water ecosystems and worldwide amphibian declines. Here we report total mercury and methylmercury concentrations of water, sediment, and green frog and bullfrog tadpoles from Acadia National Park, Maine, and compare our findings with previously-collected samples of two-lined salamander larvae, a lotic amphibian species common in headwater streams. We also evaluate variability of mercury concentrations in water, sediment, and biota among sampling sites and assess the relationships between tadpole mercury levels, tadpole body size, and water chemistry attributes. Use of these species as eco-indicators of mercury contamination in lotic and lentic ecosystems in the Northeastern United States is also discussed.
 

Naomi Schalit, Executive Director, Maine Rivers
3 Wade Street, Augusta, Maine 04330, 207/622-3101, x219, nschalit@mainerivers.org

The Role of Alewives in the Gulf of Maine and Maine's River Systems
Maine Rivers has been awarded a grant from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment to conduct educational sessions across the state on the role of alewives in the Gulf of Maine and Maine's river systems. We've assembled a highly-qualified team of resource experts to advise us, and we've put together a presentation that details the biology of alewives, their role in the larger Gulf of Maine ecosystem and in our rivers, as well as their decline and the potential for their restoration. The presentation includes vintage photographs from the well-known Damariscotta Mills alewife run, as well as contemporary, underwater photographs from National Geographic Photographer Bill Curtsinger.
 

Jeff Varricchione, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333, 207/287-7671, jeffrey.t.varricchione@maine.gov

A Review of Multi-Agency Stream Habitat Restoration Projects
The trend towards restoration of Maine's river and stream habitats appears to have been gaining momentum in recent years. Multiple state and federal agencies, as well as citizen groups, are increasingly expanding their knowledge in the assessment and restoration of these habitats, from the scale of small reaches on up to whole watersheds. Tools which aid these efforts, such as the science of applied fluvial geomorphology and natural channel design, are increasingly being taught and used in Maine. This presentation attempts to provide an overview of the recent assessment and restoration activities of various agencies and organizations that are taking place in Maine. It will include details on a few projects for illustrative purposes.