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January 22, 2008

River cleanup may come soon

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection last week gave preliminary approval to a controversial plan that proponents say will expedite the cleanup of the Androscoggin River.

The plan means Maine's dirtiest waterway, and the inspiration for the federal Clean Water Act, will have to meet minimal clean water standards by the summer of 2010, the Portland Press Herald reported. The plan sets a five-year cleanup schedule retroactive to 2005 that tightens restrictions on discharges from Verso Paper's Androscoggin Pulp and Paper Mill in Jay and NewPage Corp.'s Rumford paper mill, and requires the mills and FPL Energy, which owns a dam along the river, to pump more oxygen into the river to dilute pollutants. The BEP is expected to give the cleanup plan final approval on Feb. 7, the paper said.

Bill Cohen, spokesperson for Verso Paper's Jay mill, told the paper that Verso would consider an appeal if the BEP gives the plan final approval. FPL Energy has challenged the scientific basis for the cleanup plan, the paper said.

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