Maine DEP misses two more dam licensing deadlines

Regular readers probably recall my recent five-part, three-day series on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection under former corporate lobbyist Patricia Aho. The Maine Sunday Telegram investigation led with a story about how the department came to miss a critical deadline related to the once-in-a-quarter-century federal re-licensing of the Flagstaff dam. By dropping the ball -- and, thus, removing Maine from the court of play -- Aho's DEP allowed the dam owner to make an easy layup, avoiding possible concessions on water levels.

Amazingly, the DEP has since missed two more such deadlines, waiving the state's authority in the licensing of four dams and two dikes in the St. Croix basin of Washington County. Details on the front page of today's Portland Press Herald (or, for readers in the state capital, page B5 of the Kennebec Journal.)

[Update: 9/2/2013: The Sun-Journal's Sept. 1 editorial on this subject takes Aho to task.]