By Steve Sutter
On April 28, 1960, Maine’s Water Improvement Commission (WIC) held a public hearing concerning a license application to discharge wastewater to the Aroostook by Potato Service, Inc., a processor of frozen french fries, in Presque Isle. On Aug. 1, 1960, the license to discharge to the then Class D river was approved. The plant would take up an entire farm on the Reach Road — just upriver from where I live today. On Aug. 4, 1960, the farming couple deeded 68.3 acres of riverfront land to the Greater Presque Isle Development Corporation, “a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Maine, and having its principal place of business at said Presque Isle.”
In 1961, the WIC reported managers of Potato Service, Inc. had fully cooperated with the Commission in the design and construction of the firm’s waste treatment system, and “at present it seems their disposal plant is of adequate capacity to cope with the waste load.”
On July 21, 1961, President Kennedy signed into law the important federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1961. For the first time, the accompanying Senate report mentioned its desire to see “secondary treatment” used in municipal waste treatment plants.
Secondary treatment is a major step beyond “primary” treatment (limited to physical screening and settling out). Primary treatment removes less than 40 percent of biochemical oxygen demand or BOD. Secondary treatment, harnessing the added help of bacterial decomposers, can achieve 85 to 90 percent BOD removal.
In July 1961, the WIC concluded the Aroostook River from Washburn to the Canadian border “showed no severe signs of overloading.” However, the lower Presque Isle Stream “was found to be in bad condition [based on dissolved oxygen] and it is expected that nuisance conditions will occur at low flow.”
In April 1962, Caribou’s Drinking Water Works complained to the WIC about potato “fragments” interfering with plant operation. Investigators were dispatched to The County to inspect a number of potato processing plants. The WIC 1963 annual report noted “generally speaking enforcement is not as unpopular as it was in the early years of the program.”
On July 16, 1963, a WIC inspection of the Potato Service, Inc. treatment plant found “various aspects need correction.” Oxidation lagoons for treating potato processing wastes “continued to offer poor treatment.”
In April 1964, the Caribou Water Works complained about “aquatic growth” (along with potato fragments). A WIC investigator declared “yearly fungus infestations again occur on the river.” The growth was a fungus whose growth into large masses had been accelerated by nutrients in the stream contributed by the discharge of municipal and industrial wastes from upstream communities.
In 1964, after some pressure from the WIC, Potato Service, Inc. installed a new and larger floatation unit in its treatment line followed by aeration devices (agitators) in the lagoon system. But sampling in early 1965 showed the firm was still violating its license in terms of BOD discharged to the Aroostook.
On Oct. 2, 1965, President Johnson signed into law the Clean Water Act of 1965. Championed by Maine Senator Ed Muskie, the Act contained a new requirement for States (by June 30, 1967) to adopt water quality criteria that considered propagation of fish and other aquatic life, and recreational uses.
The WIC noted in its 1966 annual report that “adequate secondary treatment facilities will have to be constructed to meet any upgrading by the 103rd Legislature. At present, the B-1 classification above Caribou is being violated.”
On Dec. 1, 1966, the WIC responded to a complaint of sawmill wastes being disposed of in the Aroostook at Ashland. “A violation of statutes was detected.” WIC survey work that year indicated “a worsening condition of this river.”
In 1967, Rep. Paris J. Snow of Caribou introduced L.D. 346 which upgraded all Class D segments on the Aroostook’s main stem to Class C. The bill passed! However, the 103rd Legislature also passed L.D. 1635 which provided industries and municipalities a leisurely 9-year time schedule and clean-up deadline of Oct. 1, 1976. The WIC commented “the serious degradation of water supply at Caribou will demand more immediate positive actions by upstream polluters.”
In 1968, representatives of the newly-reorganized Water and Air Environmental Improvement Commission and the Maine Attorney General’s Office met with representatives of Potato Service, Inc. about unending violations. The company’s treated waste that year violated conditions of the discharge license on 11 known occasions, and the company had a second effluent which was unlicensed. These effluents were causing violations of the Aroostook River’s Class C status. The Attorney General’s Office was requested to take appropriate legal action.
Steve Sutter is a retired agricultural and resource economist living on a Presque Isle riverfront property that has been in his family since April 12, 1854. This is the seventh installment of his series on the history of the Aroostook River.
