AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill to change the state’s mining laws has been passed by lawmakers and has been sent to Gov. Paul LePage for his consideration.
Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said Monday evening that LD 1853, An Act To Improve Environmental Oversight and Streamline Permitting for Mining in Maine, passed both chambers of the Legislature twice late last week.
Martin submitted the bill in early March, saying he was prompted to introduce it because of the increasing price of minerals and the potential for mining gold, silver, copper and zinc on Bald Mountain in Aroostook County.
Bald Mountain is northwest of Ashland and Portage in Martin’s House district. J.D. Irving owns the land with Prentiss & Carlisle.
Under the bill, the state Department of Environmental Protection would be in charge of permitting and regulating such operations. The required rulemaking by the DEP likely would not begin until at least January 2014.
Martin said reports indicate that mining development at Bald Mountain could directly create up to 300 jobs and could indirectly lead to hundreds more. There also would be an excise tax on the minerals there, so the result would be more than $600 million in employment income and more than $120 million in state and local taxes, he said.
Environmental and conservation groups maintained their stance that lakes, streams and groundwater could be poisoned near Bald Mountain if there is not adequate public scrutiny or debate.
Several amendments were attached to the bill to protect groundwater and ensure that the mining process is even more environmentally sound, Martin said. The amendments also include requiring more documents and maps in permit requests and making provisions for the state treasurer to set aside a portion of excise tax revenues from mining operations to pay for overseeing mining activity.
Efforts this week to obtain comment from the governor’s office on whether he expects to sign the measure have been unsuccessful.
More special interest legislation. This time for Irving. I wonder how much of John Martin’s debt they will forgive?
Oh, no no no, that’s a totally DIFFERENT Irving. Purely coincidence. Pay no attention to the old corrupt guy behind the curtain…
Great victory for legislator-for-life John Martin! Now he can keep 300 more of his voters in the dark.
Though I don’t trust Martin, I wonder how many on these boards would be touting this as job creation if the sponsor had had an R after his name.
I’m not in favor of this no matter the name or the initial behind it.
follow the money!!!!
John Martin does not do anything in Augusta unless it benefits him.
No doubt that Paulie will sign this even though it is a democrat’s bill. It fits right in with his de-regulation agenda.
I bet he does not-LePage cannot stand Martin.
Efforts this week to obtain comment from the governor’s office on whether he expects to sign the measure have been unsuccessful.
He’s too busy with the line item Veto stuff right now, he’ll get back to you as soon as he polishes off some boxes of tissues.
Another assault on the reason most of us live in Maine. Say goodbye to clean water anywhere near Bald Mountain once this starts.
Considering that Maine has some of the strictest mining regulations in the world (yes, that’s right), this could be a very beneficial move for job creation and our state’s economy as a whole. Loosening regulations a bit doesn’t mean rampant pollution with the technology being used today in mineral extraction.
It cost the mining companies MONEY to comply with strict regulations and they are all about the BOTTOM LINE not the environment. I hope some print media is going to keep track of the jobs ‘created’ by this legislation and that they will keep us informed of how many of the 300 employees are from Maine.
Lepage will be soooo conflicted on this one. I bet he sends it back to the legislature with changes just to show everyone he is in charge.
And John Martin has paid off his $250,000 dept to Irving. A sad day for Maine.
It is a huge embarrassment to me that this bill was sponsored and promoted by democrats. It’s enough to make a voter join the Green Party. The short sightedness of this bill is mind blowing. In the entire history of U.S. sulphuric mining, there has not been a single mine that has not destroyed the brooks, ponds and lakes nearby. Why did these legislators believe their community would be the first to be spared? Because Irving said so? I realize we need jobs in Aroostook, but if these guys would spend a fraction of the time promoting tourism – an industry that generates $7 for each dollar spent, it could have created hundreds of new jobs- not just 300. And the damage to The County almost nil. What were they thinking! I guess they weren’t.
This article is old news. The passage of this bill was reported promptly last week on Maine Environmental News: Legislature passes mining bill; critics say it weakens environmental protections (http://www.maineenvironews.com/Home/tabid/97/mid/628/newsid628/20241/Default.aspx).
This is another example that with the right grease or favors, you get what you want. John Martin will bully his way yet another time. The sad part is the democrats in northern maine are so brainwashed, they will reelect him