Scribner’s Mill would like to thank Beth Quimby for her fair and unbiased article in the Maine Sunday Telegram (“Dam plan up against landlocked salmon,” Aug. 1). One issue which was not mentioned in the article was the state Inland Fisheries and Wildlife agency’s comments on our first application.

It contained false information, misleading statements, and inflammatory language which caused a false perception of our impacts on the environment. At a meeting held on May 14,IF&W representatives disclosed that they had made gross mathematical and procedural errors.

Additional Photos

Reviving a historic hydro-powered saw mill on the Crooked River won’t impede fish as badly as state officials say, according to the mill’s backers. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

It is believed by Scribner’s Mill that the false content of this report led to the denial of our first application.

Use of the best science available demonstrates that the annual impact on salmon recruitment to the Sebago Lake fishery in our first application could be held live in two 5-gallon buckets (51 smolt, with a fish hatchery value of $130). Using the same methodology and analysis on our second application results in an annual loss of 25 smolt with a fish hatchery value of $65.

It was stated that our project would lead to an increase in mean average temperature, but what is not said is that the magnitude of that increase would be in tenths, if not hundredths of a degree.

The claim was made that natural organic material will build up in our impoundment, leading to algae blooms down river. The fact of the matter is that tons of organic material will be caught by the fish exclusion screen/trash rack.

The removal of this material on a regular basis will completely offset this perceived impact. What does one think is happening to the natural occurring organic material in the river now?

While it is easy for our opponents to brainstorm creative arguments against this project, the real value of those impacts are so insignificant as to be, in some cases, incalculable.

Scribner’s Mill hopes that the public, the media and most importantly agency review staff consider the magnitude and/or the rationale behind their arguments.

Marilyn Hatch
secretary, Scribner’s Mill Preservation
Harrison 

Check school bags for Social Security notice 

Beginning this fall Maine parents will be asked by their child’s sSecurity number. The Maine Legislature passed a law requiring this, for the stated purpose of tracking student progress when students move around between school districts.

Parents can refuse to provide the Social Security number for their child, and there is no penalty for refusing.

The Maine Department of Education should be letting parents know about this, but they probably won’t. Some schools probably will, and some of those notices will never make it home. (Parents may want to look through the crumpled balls of paper in the bottom of their children’s backbacks.)

Lisa Savage
Solon 

Motorcycle noise battle has only just begun 

Bill Nemitz, who is certainly one of Maine’s finest newspaper columnists, has written another gem, the crackdown on motorcycle noise pollution in Waterville (“At last, response to noise is no longer muffled,” Aug. 1). And I agree, Police Chief Joseph Massey should be named Maine’s police chief of the year.

For many years, little or nothing has been done about the growing problem of loud motorcycles that are equipped with illegal exhausts.

The only way motorcycles can be loud is to violate laws. A loud motorcycle can’t legally pass inspection nor can it be loud without violating federal and state laws.

Sadly, in most Maine cities and towns, residents still suffer from a lack of consistent enforcement and hopefully, Mr. Nemitz’s column will help change that.

The column also mentioned the Citizens Task Force that is lead by State Police Lt. Brian Scott. The task force is supposed to find the best solution to the problem of loud motorcycles and report its findings to the Transportation Committee no later than Jan. 15.

Maine Citizens for Quiet Motorvehicles supports Maine’s adopting the EPA label law because it’s easy to enforce and doesn’t require the purchase of expensive decibel meters.

With consistent enforcement of the EPA label law and large penalties, Mainers can look forward to a restoration of peace and quiet to their neighborhoods and communities by making loud motorcycles only a bad memory.

Andy Ford
Portland 

I enjoyed reading Bill Nemitz’s story in Sunday’s paper about the clampdown on motorcycle noise. Any measures to reduce noise in our lives are a step in the right direction.

As I sit at our family camp on Sebago Lake, I am reminded of just how much more needs to be done.

Every time a cigarette boat roars by, I am dismayed by the lack of legislation to prevent this awful intrusion into an otherwise beautiful place. Unfortunately Maine seems to put testosterone-filled boating “fun” ahead of the peaceful enjoyment of natural beauty.

The lake has already lost so much to development and pollution. It’s time to do something to reverse this trend before it’s too lake. A great first step would be banning cigarette boats from Maine’s lakes.

Kevin Lamarque
North Windham 

Government should tell real story on UFOs 

The government would have us believe that there are no little green men from outer space, no spaceships that have crash-landed, no technology that we have obtained from other worlds. In fact the government has reverse engineered dozens, if not hundreds of alien items ranging from the simple to the complex.

Ever since the first alien spacecraft crashed on this planet, the government has done its best to keep the American public in the dark, believing we are little more than children that must be protected from the monsters that hide in the dark.

In many ways I believe the government is doing the right thing in terms of denying that there is life on other planets. After all, we are little more savages. During two World Wars and several “internal holocausts,” we have killed countless millions. Around the world we have many people living in near Stone Age conditions. Now, do we tell the people of the world that there are advanced cultures out there who are slowly reshaping the human race?

The powers that be within the government are slowly bringing us from the dark into the light at a pace they believe the human race can handle.

The question I ask is, will we self-destruct before we finally learn the truth about life on other planets? We are facing a very dark age, with religion against religion, race against race, men against women. It is only a question of time before some radical gets their hands on an atomic bomb or chemical/biological weapon.

Yes, in many ways we are like children that need to be protected, but maybe, just maybe if we knew of life on other planets, we would turn our destructive energies to something more positive and reach for the stars.

Who knows, maybe we would find another world that God has blessed.

Larry Horn
Sweden

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