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February 8, 2011

Feds asked to probe DEP appointment

By The Mainebiz News Staff

An environmental alliance is calling on federal officials to investigate Gov. Paul LePage's appointment of Darryl Brown as head of the Department of Environmental Protection, saying it violates federal water laws.

The Androscoggin River Alliance in Lewiston has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to look into Brown's appointment and whether it violates a provision of the Clean Water Act, according to reports from the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. The act prohibits people from directing an agency if they have received more than 10% of their annual income over the previous two years from water pollution permit holders. Brown, who was sworn in as DEP commissioner Feb. 1, owns Main-Land Development Consultants, an engineering and land-planning company in Livermore Falls, though he recently stepped down as president of the company.

Brown told legislators at a hearing that his company usually obtains eight permits a year from the DEP for developers, and an attorney for the river alliance says his income attributed to permits appears to exceed the 10% threshold, according to the Press Herald. Dan Demeritt, LePage's spokesman, told the paper that "the fact that [the river alliance officials] are raising these concerns just a week after Commissioner Brown has taken office should make it clear to everyone that this is a stunt."

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