Where is the Portland Water District when we need it?

If it does not come out in defense of good clean water by opposing the transfer of highly toxic Alberta tar sands diluted bitumen under the Crooked River and across Sebago Lake’s Jordan Bay to South Portland, as Tom Mikulka of Elders for the Future notes in his April 4 letter, the district should certainly rise in support of the Maine Brewshed Allliance’s advocacy of Sebago’s good clean water for its good clean beer.

Missing from both the op-ed by alliance member Dan Kleban (Maine Voices, March 27) and the letter by Mr. Mikulka was specific reference to the valued Sebago fishery and its dependence on clean, oil-free water.

A few decades ago, noted Maine fisheries biologist Stu DeRoche and Sebago’s best-known landlocked-salmon fishing guide, Arthur Libby, made a compelling case in a crowded public hearing before the Department of Environmental Protection that a proposed large marina on the east side of the lake, with its expected oil spills, would likely destroy the salmon nesting beds. The DEP denied the marina a permit.

What would a rupture of these already corroded pipes do to the Sebago fishery, to say nothing of our supply of good beer?

The mission of the Portland Water District is “to protect public health, safety and the environment.” The district doesn’t seem to be doing its job but sits idly by while others carry its water.

R. John Wuesthoff

Portland