WATERVILLE, Maine — A federal appeals court has revived part of a lawsuit brought by two Maine-based environmental groups hoping to save Atlantic salmon and American shad populations from being chewed up in the turbines of hydroelectric dams on the Kennebec River.
The dams are in Waterville, Skowhegan, Fairfield and Brunswick.
Environment Maine and Friends of Merrymeeting Bay brought the lawsuit, claiming dam operators have not demonstrated that measures they say they have taken to protect the fish are effective.
A federal district judge dismissed the complaint last year.
The Morning Sentinel reports that the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston reversed the dismissal, ruling that the environmental groups should be allowed to contest the effectiveness of the protection systems, including installation of fish bypasses around the turbines.