Maine communities receive $25.2 million in storm recovery grants

Gov. Janet Mills’ administration awarded $25.2 million in storm recovery grants to 39 communities across Maine on Friday, as part of the storm relief funding allocated in the latest budget. 

These grants will go toward mitigating the impact of severe weather events, as many municipalities continue to rebuild damage caused by the series of storms and severe flooding this past winter. 

Communities from Medway to Saco will benefit from the funding, with the largest grants of $4 million each going to Wiscasset for the relocation of a wastewater treatment facility and to the Rumford-Mexico Sewerage District to renovate its existing wastewater pumping station and install a series of flood proofing measures.

“As the facility stands now, future floods could catastrophically damage the station and disrupt the essential operation of wastewater collection system infrastructure that residents and businesses in Mexico, Rumford, and Dixfield rely on,” said Ronald Arsenault, superintendent of the district. “The long-overdue upgrade supported by this grant will benefit the three communities served by the upstream wastewater collection system and ensure that the district is able to help protect the Androscoggin River’s water quality and environment well into the future.” 

The grants come from the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund, which the governor and Legislature established in 2021, but are funded using part of the $60 million for storm relief included in the supplemental budget.

This storm relief money had been a key point of debate during budget negotiations. While there was widespread agreement on the need to fund storm relief, Republicans and Democrats disagreed on its funding source, and the governor had initially asked for the relief to be funded outside the budget through emergency legislation. Friday, 90 days after session adjournment, is the first day by law that the funds are available for distribution.

“We are working closely with towns and cities to take decisive action that will protect our people, our communities, and our economy from the destructive impacts of climate change,” Mills said. 

Other municipalities that received the largest grants include Portland, Winterport, Saco and Norridgewock. Robbie Bickford, board chairman of the Norridgewock Water District, said the grant will help with needed restructuring. 

“This grant funding will allow relocation of the main away from the failing embankment of the Kennebec River, increasing the resiliency of the water supply for both domestic water and fire protection,” Bickford said. “As we are all aware, climate resilience of critical infrastructure is paramount as severe storms and flooding become more prevalent, but without these grant funds, a project of this scale would be unrealistic for our small community.”  

As for the rest of the $60 million, the Mills administration has awarded $21.2 million in grants to support the recovery of 68 working waterfronts and nearly $6 million in Business Recovery and Resilience Fund grants to 108 businesses and organizations. A second round of grants for the latter is forthcoming, as $10 million is dedicated for the fund. 

Mills has requested eight major disaster declarations over the past two years. After requesting the latest for the spring nor-easter, the governor signed an executive order to establish a commission to identify short-term priorities for infrastructure rebuilding as well as to create the first long-term infrastructure resiliency plan for the state, building on the recommendations from the Maine Climate Council. 

“Maine’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, calls for investing in communities to protect vital infrastructure from effects of climate change, such as flooding, rising sea levels, and extreme storms,” said Maine Climate Council co-chair Hannah Pingree, who is also director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. 

Following the latest grants announced Friday, Pingree added, “these grant awards highlight the state’s commitment to supporting actions to address climate impacts, in partnership with Maine communities.”