Those considering their opinion on the proposed Central Maine Power corridor should be aware of the environmental and cultural collateral damage that precedes any damage the project would cause in Maine.

Damming by Hydro-Quebec has flooded nearly 7 million acres of pristine habitat in northern Quebec. This habitat was depended on by migratory mammals such as elk and seasonal habitat for migratory waterfowl. Flooding caused by dams is also a documented source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Control of these lands was taken from the Cree Natives by the Quebec provincial government, using an eminent domain-like process. Boyce Richardson outlines the struggles of the Cree Nation to keep control of their traditional hunting grounds in his 1974 book “Strangers Devour the Land,” an excellent resource for anyone who wants to know the backstory to the current debate.

I wrote a nearly identical letter to a newspaper in my home state of New Hampshire eight years ago when Hydro-Quebec was proposing this project there. After a decade of debate, the people of New Hampshire said “no” to Hydro-Quebec, and I know the people of Maine have equal or greater resolve.

Timothy D’Angelo

Waldoboro


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