Presumpscot Deal is Dead: Portland Press-Herald

The Portland Press-Herald and John Richardson provide a good synopsis:

The leader of the Friends of Sebago Lake, a group that pledged to fight the agreement with Sappi, said the deal's collapse is good news for the river and its fish.

Roger Wheeler said the deal included too many compromises with Sappi.

Forcing the company to install fish passage at Cumberland Mills would compel the company to create fish ladders upstream at a faster pace than the agreement would have, he said. And the agreement would not have allowed salmon and other fish to swim all the way up the river.

"We want to restore the fish all the way up to Sebago Lake. That's the way it should be," he said.

Friends of Sebago Lake was preparing to fight the agreement in court, arguing that it was negotiated in private and would illegally change the terms of federal hydropower licenses. State officials defended the agreement as a legal compromise that would have finally settled the dispute.



Excellent, Smithers, excellent.