Golden Urges Timely Federal Review of Shawmut Dam to Protect Hundreds of Jobs at Sappi

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) sent a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today pressing them to complete their review of Brookfield Renewable’s Shawmut Hydroelectric Dam on the Kennebec River. Absent timely action by NMFS, the dam may not receive the state and federal authorizations it needs to continue operations, which could threaten the future of Skowhegan’s Sappi Paper Mill, which relies on the dam for power.  

“Given the significance of the Shawmut Hydroelectric Project to my constituents, including the more than 700 workers employed at the Sappi Paper Mill in Skowhegan that would be impacted by the loss of the dam, I have been closely monitoring agency review for several months,” wrote Golden. “As you are aware, the extension of time granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, dated August 8, 2022, allows NMFS to extend its review of the Shawmut Hydroelectric Project until October 13, 2022. While I appreciate the need for a thorough and comprehensive review, I am urging the completion of the formal consultation process without additional extension beyond the current period.” 

Brookfield Renewable, the current operator of the dam, has been entangled in an unusually lengthy Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing process because of the facility’s potential impact on endangered Atlantic salmon populations. At present, Brookfield is waiting on approval for a water quality certification (WQC) application it submitted to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last October. At the end of July, DEP issued a Draft Order denying the application citing its expectation that changes to Brookfield’s fish passage proposals would result from the ongoing federal agency review and indicating that recent delays in the federal process would not make that information available until as late as mid-October. Under federal law, DEP must take action on the Brookfield WQC application by October 18, 2022 or else approval of the dam’s operations could be delayed for at least another year. 

To better facilitate upstream fish passage for the endangered Atlantic salmon and other species, Brookfield plans to build a new upstream fish lift and flume. After their first proposal was rejected by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, which subsequently recommended the dam for closure and removal, Brookfield submitted a second, modified proposal. NMFS has requested an extension from FERC in order to review Brookfield’s new proposal and to develop its Biological Opinion, required by federal law, analyzing the impacts of the dam on Atlantic salmon.  According to Sappi, removing the dam would drop the water levels in the Kennebec River from 20 feet to 4 or 6 feet and decrease the width of the river by several hundred feet. This would leave the mill’s water infrastructure above the water and could result in the mill’s closure. 

The letter can be found here. 

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