The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Krysta West is the executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council.
Mainers are known for being thrifty to a fault. We know how to stretch a dollar, and how to make the most of limited resources. We are also the most forested state in the nation, which is why Mainers have always relied on wood to heat our homes. Wood is one of our most abundant resources, and it sustains our $8.1 billion forest industry.
Pulp and paper mills rely on systems that take what is left over from forestry and mill operations — bark, branches, shavings and black liquor — to generate much of the power that is required for the papermaking process. It’s all part of a circular system focused on fully utilizing the resources that we have (biomass) while limiting our reliance on non-renewable energy sources.
Biomass is part of the natural carbon cycle, which is why both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Maine Department of Environmental Protection — along with the vast majority of environmental agencies in other industrialized nations — consider it carbon neutral when it comes from sustainably managed forests. As new trees grow, they absorb the carbon released when wood is used as fuel, unlike fossil fuels, which add carbon that had been stored underground for millions of years.
Some, like the D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project, disagree. Their recent report criticizes mills for using forestry leftovers and other fuel that they claim “can be dirtier than coal.”
This is not just an attack on our pulp and paper industry, it’s an attack on our heritage, which is why it is troubling that the Bangor Daily News and others published a recent article that originated in the Maine Monitor based on EIP’s faulty report.
EIP oversimplified a complex issue and ignored the value of renewable fuel sources and the advanced emissions controls that modern mills use to capture particulates and meet strict air quality standards.
Our pulp and paper sector has been in flux for years. While we have lost some capacity from the peak, major investments have positioned our remaining mills as modern, efficient and nimble enterprises capable of adapting to evolving market trends. From pulp to toilet paper and packaging, our mills are sustainably producing products that we need as a society, and they are helping us move away from plastic and polystyrene foam that fill our landfills and pollute our waterways.
These state-of-the-art facilities are not only meeting, but surpassing state and federal discharge laws designed to protect Maine’s natural environment.
But you wouldn’t know any of that from the Maine Monitor’s reporting, so here is more information:
Sappi Somerset, one of the largest integrated pulp and paper mills in North America, ranks among the best in emissions intensity, emissions per ton of product, based on EPA FLIGHT data. Eighty percent of Somerset’s energy comes from renewable resources, and the company has set an admirable goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions per ton of product by 41.5 percent by 2030 from 2019 levels.
ND’s Rumford facility also continuously invests in the facility to go well beyond compliance for both air and water emissions discharges. In 2023, $6 million was invested in the wastewater treatment plant to increase efficiency. In 2024-2025, $4.5 million was invested in boilers to reduce particulate matter emissions by 75 percent. The company is currently engineering a $7 million project to convert the recovery boiler from oil to natural gas to further reduce emissions.
These companies aren’t making these investments because they have to, they are doing it because they are good stewards of our environment.
Maine has a strong papermaking heritage, and thousands of our finest workers have dedicated their careers to modernizing this sector for success long into the future. These Maine workers, and the mills that employ them, are the backbone of our industry and rural communities. They are rightfully proud of their work, and the progress that has been made to keep these mills viable.
It’s a shame that Maine-based news outlets published this one-sided article when such impressive strides are being made in our industry.
