State environmental regulators say the Town of Phillips violated state laws and damaged habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon when it dredged the South Branch of the Sandy River in December.
While the Maine Department of Environmental Protection did grant the town permission to remove three debris piles to alleviate winter flooding, regulators say the town and its contractors went too far, dredging a channel nearly a mile long, erecting berms next to the river, and dewatering channels used by brook trout and Atlantic salmon.
John Burrows of the Atlantic Salmon Federation says this part of the river was excellent salmon habitat, and had at least six salmon nests, known as redds, created last fall.
"So in terms of the impact on a critically endangered species, losing six redds and thousands of juvenile wild Atlantic salmon is going to have an impact for a few generations up that way," he says.
In a reply to DEP, Phillips town manager Maureen Haley wrote that the town did not knowingly violate any regulations, and was acting to “preserve human lives and the property of its residents at a time of great need and catastrophe.”
Haley said the town is willing to work with state and federal agencies to restore the river, but asked for financial assistance for the work, and for projects to prevent future flooding. Burrows says the restoration work could cost as much as $3 million.
