BRUNSWICK

State Sen. Everett “Brownie” Carson is probably best known for his decades of environmental advocacy. After nearly 30 years as head of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Carson stepped down in 2010. But just half a decade later, Carson is back in Augusta — this time as a legislator representing Brunswick, Freeport, Harpswell, North Yarmouth and Pownal.

It’s not surprising that one of the first bills Carson is putting forward is related to the environment.

“The first bill is one that would significantly strengthen Maine’s mining laws,” said Carson. “And it would be designed to do two things: protect our water (our lakes and rivers and ponds and groundwater, drinking water), and also to protect citizens from the potentially high costs of a serious mine spill or mine accident that would cause pollution, and that we as citizens and taxpayers would end up having to pay for.”

The bill would ban mining under bodies of water and on public lands, and ban tailings piles on floodplains. It would also require the owners of mines to give some sort of “financial assurance” that in the event of a spill, the owner would have the assets to control the accident and pay for the cleanup.

“In too many places … there have been horrendous spills and the resulting cost to taxpayers is often very exorbitant. If there’s mining in Maine, it’s got to be safe, it’s got to be done in a way that protects our groundwater and other natural resources, and it’s got to be done in a way that doesn’t cost the taxpayers a boatload of money,” said Carson.

While there hasn’t been active mining in Maine for around 30 years, said Carson, he pointed to the Callahan copper mine in Hancock County as an example of a site where Maine citizens are paying to clean up and monitor a mine that closed decades ago.

Repeal of ACA

Carson was not assigned to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, but he said that he plans to take an active role in the committee’s work. On the Committee on Insurance and Financial Services, which Carson was assigned to, the freshman senator said he was concerned that the repeal of the Affordable Care Act would be very detrimental to rural hospitals. One of his primary focuses will be handling the potential fallout if Congress repeals the ACA. Carson said that he wants as many Mainers as possible to be insured.

“I think it is critically important to get as many people in Maine covered by health insurance, whether it’s Mainecare, insurance under the ACA, employer-sponsored insurance where the employer can afford it,” said Carson. “It’s just crazy in this day and age not to have people insured.”

A second bill that Carson is sponsoring is what he describes as a drastic reduction in Maine’s Public Health Nursing Program.

“Without, as near as I can tell, any serious public discussion or debate, the Department of Health and Human Services since 2011 cut back the staff of the public health nursing service from roughly around 50 to somewhere in the lows 20s,” said Carson. “Those nurses, by and large, are not there anymore.”

Carson said that he is still working to get answers on why the public health nursing staff has been cut. He’s reaching out to former public health nurses and plans to speak with DHHS representatives about the program. Carson’s bill would increase the number of public health nurses and clarify the law.

“First and foremost, it would require staffing the public health nursing service at a level adequate to do the work and at a minimum restore it to the staffing level of Jan. 1, 2011,” said Carson. “It would create a legislative study to look at what’s happened, what the status is now, and what we really need in terms of public health nurses because of drug-affected babies, because of latent or active TB in the population. And it would put into statute the duties of the public health nursing service.”

Lobster industry

One bill that Carson is sponsoring would create a health insurance ombudsman to help small businesses select the most affordable insurance. Although language on the proposal hasn’t been finalized yet, Carson says that he is working on another bill that would help encourage lobster processing in the state.

“If I can do something constructive to help the lobster industry or the marine shellfish industry in adding value and employing people on the coast of Maine … I’ll be happy to do it,” said Carson.