Say no to ?tar sands

Lakes Region residents should be better informed about the potential risks linked to a tar sands oil pipeline project in Maine that may be announced by the pipeline’s owners in the next few months.

To that end, the Windham Town Council last week agreed to schedule a presentation by Emily Figdor, executive director of Environment Maine, at a special meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Windham Town offices. The public is invited to attend in person, or view via Windham Time Warner TV channel 7, or online as a webcast on Windhamweb.com.

This informative overview of tar sands oil and its environmental and public health concerns will be preceded by a large regional tar sands rally and march in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 26, at noon at Monument Square. Hundreds of interested citizens from around Maine will gather to signal their concerns while listening to expert speakers.

On Jan. 12, the residents of Casco, in a special town meeting, passed a local resolution in opposition to the tar sands pipeline project. This initiative is being pursued in many other communities in Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

At the local level, we in fact have a collective voice and opportunity to block this grave risk to our environment by petitioning local, state, and federal officials to implement a Presidential Permit that would require a full environmental review of the Exxon/Mobil plan.

There are no positive outcomes to a tar sands pipeline: It will not create jobs. It will not reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It will only present terrible ramifications should a toxic spill occur due to the failure of a 62-year-old pipeline.

The significant risks to our regional environment and economy can’t be overstated. A leak of tar sands oil could threaten the nearby Sebago Lake watershed, which not only supplies drinking water to some 200,000 people, but provides immeasurable recreational and economic opportunities.

Please take these opportunities to become better informed and join countless others in their effort to protect Maine’s natural resources.

Martin Shuer

Windham

Let’s talk ?water levels

An open letter to the organizers of the Sebago Milfoil Summit,

Friends of Sebago Lake (FOSL) are asking the participants of the Jan. 25th Sebago Lake Milfoil Summit at St. Joseph’s College to reconsider lifting their ban on discussion of lake levels. Lake-level management can play an important role in controlling milfoil. The Songo River should be a central focus of the discussion of the relationship of milfoil invasion and unnatural lake regulation.

Why did milfoil survive and proliferate so rapidly in the Songo River and now other areas of Sebago Lake?

Prior to the 1980s, Sebago Lake’s water levels experienced a fluctuation range up to 8 feet. There was much natural inter-annual variability because lake levels were precipitation-driven. In some years, levels were high and in some years they were lower. The average fluctuation was about 4 to 5 feet. This natural regulation created a dynamic, coarser and nutrient-limited sandy substrate in shallow rivers and coves, which was unfavorable for milfoil growth.

Also, roots of invasive plants, such as milfoil, in shallow areas were occasionally exposed to drying and freezing when lake levels naturally fluctuated lower. The lower historic range ended in the 1980s to satisfy high-water interests. Since that time, the spring, summer and fall lake levels have remained considerably above the 100-year average.

In the lower Songo River and the lower Crooked River, the combination of constant high lake levels, boat wakes, and high-flow events have resulted in unnatural riverbank erosion. A continuous low-energy environment was created that replaced the coarser sandy substrate with flocculent muck. The river channel from bank to bank is now at least 20 to 40 feet wider than it was 40 years ago because of the erosion resulting change in lake regulation. The eroded clays and silts have accumulated in the river bottom. Milfoil thrives in this nutrient-rich habitat.

During flood events, we are witnessing the flow of this flocculent matter and milfoil parts into the lake. This flocculent matter and nutrient transfer is also occurring to varying degrees from lake wetlands along Sebago Lake because of the present lake regulation. It is not surprising that Sebago Lake is a No. 1 hot spot for milfoil in the state.

FOSL appreciates the willingness, effort, and interest of many groups in combating the recent rapid proliferation of milfoil. FOSL believes that an open-minded attitude resistant to the fear of taking a stand on lake-level management is possible now because of the recent Maine DEP Water Quality Certification (WQC). This WQC has recommended to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) outflow parameters which reflect pre-1980s average lake levels.

FOSL asks that instead of the summit refusing to hear any discussion of lake-level impacts on milfoil proliferation that the summit discuss ways to pursue funding of scientific study and evaluation of lake level impacts on lake habitat and milfoil control. FOSL believes through education derived from competent scientific work and research most everyone will understand the necessity for lake-level management that reflects the power of natural freshwater flow and conditions to control milfoil and safeguard water quality.

A pending appeal before Kennebec County Maine Superior Court by Douglas Watts has a claim for restoring more of the lower historic lake-level range. Scientific evaluation of what this could do for milfoil control and improving water quality should be a topic of discussion. Every natural weapon available should be brought to bear in combating milfoil. Again, Friends of Sebago Lake commends the efforts of the many involved in the milfoil war. We hope the combination of the milfoil-limiting power of Sebago Lake’s historic natural lake-level regulation can be combined with the present methods of milfoil removal so that this milfoil war can be won.

Meredith Wheeler, president

Friends of Sebago Lake