Air Pollution, Public Health, and Community Building in Western Maine

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Published January, 1998
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From 1995 to 1997, CBI assisted four towns in Western Maine tackle tough environmental pollution and public health concerns surrounding the area’s major employer, a large pulp and paper mill. CBI worked closely with the U.S. EPA, Region I, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Maine Department of Health to assist the communities.

CBI conducted a stakeholder analysis, which helped reorganize a multi-stakeholder coalition, and worked with the community to jointly conduct a cancer incidence study, a radon monitoring program, an air toxics monitoring program, and other activities designed to address concerns, rebuild community relationships, and improve air quality and public health. As one participant said at the conclusion of the process: “One thing that was achieved was that the community learned how to deal with a contentious issue. They learned a process because I’m sure there’ll be another issue that comes up sometime and now they’ve learned - this community’s gone through a process and they’ve learned how to deal with conflict in a constructive way. I think that’s invaluable for the community to know that.”

The two year overall effort led to the creation of an independent, local, non-profit River Valley Health Communities Coalition that has been going strong since 1997.

Background
In the early 1990’s, the Maine DEP held a local public hearing on a seemingly routine permitting issue. The mill had applied for a license to increase its emissions from existing boilers. But the hearing became the setting for a dramatic confrontation between the mill and over 100 town residents. For many residents of the towns, the public hearing provided an opportunity to raise concerns about their family members, friends and neighbors dying of cancer, potentially caused by environmental exposures. Other citizens were just as angry, but vehemently denied the claim that there was a health problem in their community. These residents warned that the label “Cancer Valley” would unjustly tarnish the community’s reputation and hinder economic development. The mill was alarmed about the charges leveled against it. Mill managers pointed out that they were in compliance with all existing federal and state regulations concerning air quality.

 

The NOCC’s Work
CBI first conducted a stakeholder analysis to better understand the concerns and issues in the community and to identify how the existing Northern Oxford County Coalition (NOCC) might be reorganized to address these concerns. In the Analysis, CBI learned that the NOCC needed more active participation from the mill, more help from Union leadership, assistance from the Maine Department of Public Health, and broader membership from the four towns. After hosting a retreat where the reorganized NOCC developed a set of groundrules and mission statement, the NOCC and CBI went to work.

Then, the NOCC decided to conduct a joint cancer incidence study. They hired an independent technical advisor, Dr. Daniel Wartenberg of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers, to assist them. They established a technical subcommittee that labored over seven months to develop a credible, legitimate, and informative cancer incidence study. The study was entitled the NOCC’s Technical Subcommittee Report on Cancer Incidence in the Rumford, Maine Area. It was peer reviewed and released to the community at large.

From there, the group selected to work on a variety of issues. The community, with active assistance from the US EPA, helped 500 homes conduct a radon test, a concern in the area. Another subcommittee of the NOCC developed an air toxics monitoring plan which the DEP then implemented. The NOCC also explored local pollution prevention programs, smoking rates, and smoking prevention programs. Finally, the NOCC explored the scientific controversy surrounding dioxin.

 

The NOCC Finishes and Creates a New Local Organization
After two years of hard work, the NOCC released a final report that was distributed by the local paper to over 7,000 residences. The NOCC’s final act was to create its successor, the River Valley Health Communities Coalition, which is still going strong to improve the quality of life in the region in 2003. A medical care provider professional who participated in the NOCC final report concluded: “I think the real success of the NOCC is that we came out of it and we were able to develop the Healthy Communities Coalition. I really think that that’s a major thing for this community and I hope that people realize it, that that is important.”

 

For more information on this case, please contact CBI.