Sometimes in order to truly appreciate what you have, it is necessary to take a moment to reflect upon the time when you didn’t have it.
This weekend, as tens of thousands of us relax in the late summer sun on the edge of the Penobscot River being serenaded by some of the nation’s finest musical performers, it might be worth it to remember, just for a second or two, what Bangor’s waterfront used to be not so long ago — when leaking fuel tanks, coal yards and dilapidated and mostly vacant warehouses blocked any view of the state’s largest river. Not that many of us cared, given the polluted state and stench of it.
A University of Maine study of the river in 1972 concluded that the waterway was overloaded by oxygen-demanding wastes and could not support most fish species, that the main stem served as a “flume for waste assimilation” and that sewage fungus and sludge could be seen in the water.
All of that created “generally unaesthetic conditions.”
One would certainly think so.
But then came the passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972, and ever so slowly the level of pollutants getting dumped into the river began to subside.
Today, some studies indicate the pollutant load to the river has decreased by 85 percent, and that the quality of water in the watershed is considered from good to outstanding.
With the recent removal of the Great Works Dam, it is expected that as many as 11 species of sea-run fish will once again take to the river to spawn.
While the river was beginning its transformation, the city of Bangor was carefully embarking on a 20-year project to purchase and clean up a 36-acre parcel of river frontage.
How many municipal committee meetings do you suppose were suffered through to get to the result you see today?
And standing beside Bangor officials as this improvement project was under way were organizers of the now-American Folk Festival by the Bangor Waterfront, nudging with their elbows and working tirelessly to ensure the success of the festival to prove what life in a beautiful riverfront city can really be.
The transformation is not lost on George Marvin, who was born in Bangor and grew up in Hampden.
He and his wife of 38 years, Nancy, sailed here from their home in Florida, just to attend the American Folk Festival.
“This is our sixth festival. Four we sailed up and two we drove,” said Nancy.
George is a retired naval captain and he and Nancy have spent years sailing in their 45-foot sailboat, from Newfoundland to the Caribbean.
“This is the best event anywhere we’ve been,” Nancy remarked Thursday evening during a festival kickoff event. “The variety of acts, the welcome from the city and the committee, we just love it.”
George remembers the river of his childhood and the dreariness and industrial nature of its shore.
“There was no waterfront in my mind,” he said on Thursday. “It was a pit. When we sailed up here five years ago, it actually took my breath away it was so beautiful.”
This year, moored at Hampden Marina, George and Nancy watched as some kids dove off the back of a boat and into the river.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “When I was a kid, if someone had fallen in that river we would have sprayed them from head to toe with disinfectant. Now kids are swimming in it. It’s a remarkable thing.”
It is that.
I hope that all of you get to come to the waterfront for at least part of this weekend to enjoy the efforts of the hundreds of people who have worked for decades to restore the river, to beautify the waterfront and to bring this incredible festival to our doorstep.
Renee Ordway can be reached at reneeordway@gmail.com.
What a wonderful piece, Renee! I am 64 years old, and I remember what it was like back in the day!!!
Please, tell us what you remember that it was really like, Mama.
I would take all those oil tanks, abandoned warehouses and pollution over the 3 methadone clinics that this city has allowed in our once beautiful town destroying any real quality of life for our youth. Bangor needs to get rid of these clinics before the scum that goes in there destroys the rest of our city.
Egg head, stop complaining about the methadone clinics. Most people likely don’t even know they are there. Those ugly methadone clinics really ruin the city skyline. Better get rid of the homeless, mentally ill, and reatraded, those scum hang out on the street asking for money. I saw them holding signs at Texas Roadhouse the other day. Purge society! Maybe we should send them to the oven! Better yet, maybe we should remove scum like you.
I am going to refer to the “no personal attacks” BDN rules or else guess what….I would own you.
Buffoon……Is that more appropiate?
Quit looking in the mirror and get a job and a life.
I have a life. I am a working professional and pay hefty tax dollars. This forum is about Bangor’s waterfront and the appreciation of the clean up .Again, the view is obstructed because of the Casino, fast food chains, and fencing from the concerts. I think we are off topic.
I would take 3 methadone clinics over gambling and prostitution. Actually, the clinics assist in decreasing the heroin and other opiates off the streets. Now we have an increase in demand , increase crime, illegal opiates, and disease . Its so easy to blame 3 clinics.
It is easy to blame the 3 clinics because it is them that have brought the thousands of drug addicts to this town. And what you are not being told is that often when a drug addict becomes methadone dependant and doesn’t have to scrape for their fix everyday they become drug dealers. They make their living dealing to their friends that dont want methadone. Drug dealers committ crime, sell to kids and occasionally get killed or muscled up by someone that owes them a debt. If you cant see that it is the methadone clinics that are destroying the youth in this town well, that is good and bad for you. Where you and I live I doubt it will impact our lives much but there are going to be many in Bangor that feel them and will elect to relocate.
Your are not well versed on the subject matter. I suggest you go to the SAMSHA web site for a start. That is if you care. That is your choice. My opinion of you is below. They can relocate ….just about every state has several methadone clinics. So obviously …its working.
Rene this article was long overdue.
Thank you.
While it’s great that so many young people have no idea of what a sorry mess the River once was, the work, commitment and faith in the fact that it would pay to clean up the filthy, stinky, industrial open sewer needs to be remembered.
Especially , now, as the same sorts of vocal upland naysayers who once said cleaning up the River would ruin the economy of the Northern Penobscot Valley/County, where they are the only experts on anything, and you people down stream can just live in the smell of our s…. , and that could never pay off, anyway, fight other needed changes, today.
I remember on foggy mornings when the whole River, down stream from Salmon Pool dam as far the mouth Kenduskeug, at the very least, was full of five foot high piles of suds that made Bangor, anywhere near State St. or Main St smelled just like the mill’s pulp room, from were the chemicals in the suds came.
Who can say how Hampden and poor Winterport, where the incoming tides stopped the filth for hours a day, smelled when they were growing up ?
It is important to remember, too, that once we stopped fouling our Valley, the River did clean itself, but that it a long took time.
Is it not fair to say that between 1972 and 1992 the best that could said about it was that the River was getting better, and did not stink, so much, or as often ?
I ask that relative to giving young people the faith it takes to do the right thing and realistic expectations on how long it takes to heal the wounds that man made pollution have imposed on our environment , and for us reap the benefits of doing the right things.
It has taken the Penobscot my entire adult live to heal itself, and longer than yours, I must think, Ms. Ordway.
But, then we did know we were not really doing it for ourselves, but rather doing it for our children and grandchildren, too, didn’t we ?
I grew up a five minute walk from the river. It was so filthy the water stunk. We were not allowed to dip our toe into the water. I remember a group of kids gathered on shore to watch a man who’d drown and was found above the Veazie dam being pulled from the water. We wondered if he died from the pollution our parents warned us about. I also remember the area of the water front. It was frequented by homeless people, or “bums” and “winos” as they were called back then. It was a place we passed by on the way to picking my grandfather up from work. It was a sad place to be back then.
Thanks for writing this, Renee. Very nice!
Yes, from an environmental perspective Bangor has improved. But I cannot appreciate the beauty as the Casino obstructs my view.
Yeah that dam EPA!! Those dam tree hugging hippies, how dare they clean up our once disgusting polluted river! It kills businesses bottom line by having them to dispose of there waste securely and safely. We need to abolish the EPA so businesses can save money by dumping there chemicals into the river and air!