The transfer of Bucksport-area dams to local ownership from the scrap metal company that bought the former Verso Paper mill’s holdings has been delayed at least until this summer.
That company, American Iron and Metal, asked the state for an 180-day extension on its consultation report, a legal step in the transfer process, which was granted with a new deadline of June 17. Issues around water rights previously granted to other companies and those same companies’ responsibility for contributing to deferred maintenance costs have drawn out the process.
The delay isn’t necessarily bad news to the towns, representatives said, and parties appear to agree that the towns are a logical choice to own the dams. But another extension does mean it will take longer for one town to consider ownership and others to begin maintenance and repairs on the aging structures.
After the mill closed in late 2014, its holdings were bought by a subsidiary of American Iron and Metal, the Montreal-based scrap metal company. Among those holdings were three dams — on Silver Lake in Bucksport, Alamoosook Lake and Toddy Pond in Orland — all built in the early 1900s to supply water for papermaking.
In 2024, the company filed with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to abandon those dams under a state law allowing it to do so. The towns where the dams are located are ready to take over their ownership or hold a vote on the question, but complications with other parties that have rights to the water have slowed that down.
To keep water from being released and taking much of the area’s multimillion-dollar lake-based recreation economy with it, Blue Hill, Orland, Surry and Penobscot voted in November to form two quasi-municipal watershed management districts that could take over the Alamoosook and Toddy dams.
Bucksport separately had considered a November town vote on taking ownership of the Silver Lake structure. Its attorney told the state that the vote was delayed because of complications over rights to the dam.
In September filings, the town said Bucksport Generation, owners of the former mill’s power plant, and Whole Oceans, which bought much of the mill site in hopes of building a fish farm, have rights of first refusal if Bucksport Mill sold the water system, and would need to waive those rights to approve new ownership before the dams could be transferred.
Bucksport Generation and Maine Water, a private utility that provides the town’s public water supply, said over the summer they wouldn’t grant releases without compensation, the town’s attorney wrote. Whole Oceans does not appear in later filings or comments.
Bucksport Mill also hadn’t notified the power plant until August, according to documents. The town’s filings also question Bucksport Mill’s right to transfer the dams and claim that seeking compensation for water rights goes against the state abandonment statute.
Bucksport believes the private companies have benefited financially from the dams and should pay a share of deferred maintenance costs, according to Jacob Gran, Bucksport’s town manager. That could be done with regular contributions to be held in a reserve account, he said, though it’s still up in the air.
“Coming to agreement on what that partnership would look like moving forward is what’s very important to the town,” he said.
In its own subsequent filing, Bucksport Mill’s attorney said it was hopeful continuated negotiations will result in a “successful transfer” and that it was in conversation with Bucksport Generation and the Maine Water Company.
The other towns could potentially have taken ownership of their dams early this year, according to Marc Restuccia, a trustee of the Toddy district who was involved in the district’s formation process. Now it likely can’t happen at least until summer.
“In some ways, although not ideal, it’s given us a little more breathing room” as the districts get organized, Restuccia said.
But they do want to take ownership of the dams this year to start addressing maintenance issues, according to Restuccia.
The districts would likely need input from an engineering firm for further work, but past inspections have shown immediate needs on Toddy include clearing vegetation on embankments, adding riprap to prevent erosion and inspecting the concrete gate structure, he said. Alamoosook has a similar list including concrete repairs.
So far, startup costs for the district — which are split between residents and waterfront property owners — have been somewhat higher than expected, according to Restuccia, but he said the model seems to be working out well. The Toddy district approved a $51,200 budget last week for its first year, according to the River Observer newspaper.
The quasimunicipal districts are new in Maine, as this is the first time the state’s dam abandonment law has been tested. Proponents of the districts have said they can be a blueprint for other towns as hundreds of dams around the state age and deteriorate.
“I think it’s been a really interesting and good thing to do,” he said.