Key step taken in pact to remove dams (Penobscot River, Maine)

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/060601dams.shtml

A historic plan to remove or bypass three dams along the Penobscot River is moving closer to reality now that a Pennsylvania company has started generating more power at other nearby dams.

PPL Corp. increased production at the Stillwater Dam in Old Town and will soon do the same at dams at West Enfield and Medway, the company announced Wednesday.

For now, the changes mean additional hydropower going into New England's energy grid. But the increases were also recognized Wednesday as a key step in a long-range, $50 million plan to reduce the number of hydro dams on the river and open up 500 miles of long-lost habitat for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish.

A 2004 agreement allows for increased production at some PPL mills and calls for the removal of the Veazie and Great Works dams. The Howland Dam would be decommissioned and bypassed with a fishway, according to the plan.

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