Sappi pulls out of dam removal
With no public notice or explanation, Sappi Fine Paper North America has pulled out of a deal to remove a dam that would have allowed sea-run fish up the Presumpscot River, the Portland Press Herald reported.
The project, to remove the Cumberland Mills Dam in Westbrook by 2011 and allow fish passage at several upstream dams, was praised last year by conservationists. Those same conservationists are now asking the state to force Sappi to build the fish passageway.
Sappi, which owns the former S.D. Warren paper mill in downtown Westbrook, previously had resisted installing fish passages at its dams because of the high costs, which were expected to be well in excess of $10 million, the paper reported. State officials say it was likely the estimated expense of the project that triggered Sappi to pull back.
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