Contact: Gordon Helm                     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         5/26/98

A landmark agreement has been reached between private industry, environmental groups, and federal, state and local governments to remove Edwards Dam and to restore fish runs in the Kennebec River, Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley announced today.

"This comprehensive settlement will allow the restoration of a wide range of fish species to their historical spawning grounds in the Kennebec, including every species of sea-run fish that is indigenous to the northeastern United States," said Secretary Daley. "It reflects a true partnership between the public and private sectors that will lead to more fish in the Kennebec River and greater economic benefits for Maine."

Many such dams, built in the early eighteen hundreds, have contributed to a drastic reduction of anadromous fish populations by blocking access to historic spawning grounds. The removal of this dam will permit runs of Atlantic salmon, American shad, alewives, blueback herring, striped bass, rainbow smelt, Atlantic sturgeon, and endangered shortnose sturgeon to access prime spawning areas and begin the rebuilding process. These growing stocks will provide expanded opportunities for commercial and recreational fisheries in the Kennebec River.

"The settlement reached in this case represents a winning situation all around," said Terry Garcia, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deputy administrator. "Edwards Manufacturing Company and the City of Augusta will be free of a large financial liability. Upstream dam owners will receive realistic timetables for installing fish passage facilities at their dams in the future. Bath Iron Works will contribute to a tremendous environmental restoration project. And the citizens of Maine will see their river and its fish runs returned. All the parties who worked hard for this day deserve our thanks."

The settlement requires Edwards Manufacturing Company and the City of Augusta to surrender the dam to the state. The state will use funds from two principal sources to remove the dam. A group of hydropower dam operators, the Kennebec Hydro Developers Group, will pay $4.75 million in exchange for postponing the installations of fish passages at upstream dams. The need for passage at these dams has been delayed from previous schedules because of the blockage created by the Edwards Dam. Also, Bath Iron Works will pay $2.5 million towards dam removal as compensation for a shipyard expansion project that involves dredging and filling on the lower Kennebec.

Other key participants in the settlement include the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Kennebec Coalition, an alliance of environmental groups. The settlement will preserve intact a precedent-setting dam removal order for the Edwards Dam issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 1997, and will avert the near certainty of lengthy court proceedings in the absence of a settlement.