Oral Histories

Neil Ward

Neil, a forth-generation Androscoggin River Valley resident, was born and raised in Greene, near Lewiston and Auburn. He and many of his family worked in the region’s textile and shoe mills. Neil pursued his long-standing interests in environmental politics and science at Unity College. After graduating in 2000, he worked for Maine Rivers and the Natural Resource Council of Maine. In 2004, he became the founding program director of the Androscoggin River Alliance, an environmental non-profit based in Lewiston dedicated to working for “a healthy river, good jobs, and strong community.” Neil lives with his family in Leeds, Maine.

Interview conducted on August 10, 2010 in Brunswick, Maine.

External links:

Audio: click titles below to begin listening

1. Earliest memories of the Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #1

2. Memories and lack of memories of a river degraded - Interview Excerpt #2

3. Looking to the future of the river - Interview Excerpt #3

4. Environmental awareness at a young age - Interview Excerpt #4

C. Thomas Settlemire

Tom Settlemire is Professor of Biology and Biochemistry (Emeritus) at Bowdoin College. An Ohio native, Tom came to Bowdoin in 1969 after completing his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University. A specialist in cell biology and biochemistry, he was one of the first faculty in the region (together with Walter A. Lawrance of Bates College) to conduct extensive studies on water quality in the Androscoggin with his Bowdoin students. A noted expert on the genetics and breeding of the Katahdin Hair Sheep, he was a long time member of the board of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and served as its president for many years. Settlemire lived on a farm in Brunswick along the Androscoggin River for nearly 40 years and now lives in Yarmouth, Maine.

Interview conducted on August 10, 2010 in Brunswick, Maine.

External links:

Audio: click titles below to begin listening

1. First time seeing the Androscoggin in 1969 - Interview Excerpt #1

2. His 1971 summertime research with Bowdoin students - Interview Excerpt #2

3. Living on a farm along the banks of the river - Interview Excerpt #3

4. A "dynamic and active" Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #4

5. Fishing and kayaking on the river today - Interview Excerpt #5

Naomi Schalit

Naomi Schalit is the executive director and senior reporter for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a non-profit organization devoted to in-depth investigative journalism. A graduate of Princeton University, she also attended the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California at Berkeley. Naomi has written for magazines and newspapers around the country, worked as a columnist for the former Maine Times and for five years was a reporter and producer at Maine Public Radio. Naomi was also the executive director of Maine Rivers from 2002-05, a statewide environmental non-profit organization. Much of her reporting past and present has focused on Maine environmental politics. Schalit has two grown children and lives in Hallowell with her husband, John Christie.

Interview conducted on August 23, 2010 in Brunswick, Maine.

External links:

Audio: click titles below to begin listening

1. First time seeing the Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #1

2. The Androscoggin as Maine's "dirty dog" river - Interview Excerpt #2

3. The shame of "Muskie's River" - Interview Excerpt #3

4. No longer "business as usual" on the Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #4

Barry Mower

Barry Mower was born in Lewiston and raised in Greene, near the Androscoggin River. A graduate of the University of Maine at Orono and Oregon State University, Barry has worked as an aquatic biologist for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection since 1974. Barry is responsible for the review of point source discharges of industrial and municipal wastewater, and evaluation of attainment status of Maine’s Water Quality Standards, for all of the state’s rivers and streams. He is also responsible for review and approval of certification of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, hydropower development and implementation on the state’s dams, as well as guiding the Maine’s effluent testing program and Toxic Pollution Control Strategy. Barry grew up near the river in Greene and currently lives with his wife Jane in Manchester, Maine.

Interview conducted on February 3, 2011 in Augusta, Maine..

External links:

Audio: click title below to begin listening

1. The Androscoggin before the 1972 Clean Water Act - Interview Excerpt #1

2. Foul odors‚ gases‚ and "floating mudpies" - Interview Excerpt #2

3. Earlier clean up efforts before the Clean Water Act - Interview Excerpt #3

4. Memories living near and duck hunting along the Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #4

5. Classification of waterway quality in Maine - Interview Excerpt #5

6. Current water quality and challenges ahead - Interview Excerpt #6

7. The problems of stormwater pollution - Interview Excerpt #7

8. "It's all of us...it's our lifestyle" to blame - Interview Excerpt #8

9. Recounting the Androscoggin Source to the Sea Trek - Interview Excerpt #9

10. Time to redefine our rivers for the future? - Interview Excerpt #10

11. When will the river be clean enough? - Interview Excerpt #11

12. A growing demand for a cleaner Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #12

Greg Ponte

Greg Ponte was born in Massachusetts and moved with his family in high school to Auburn, where he attended high school and later graduated from the Maine Maritime Academy. He was a Merchant Marine deck officer for more than two decades. After retiring, Ponte turned his avocation into his vocation and became a volunteer fly casting and fly tying instructor. A lifelong fly fisher, Ponte has long been active in Maine and New England environmental and angling causes. He led the Kennebec Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited as President and later served as Chairman of the Maine Council of Trout Unlimited. Ponte also helped to found Maine’s annual TU Trout Camp for teens. He lives with his fly fishing gear close at hand on the banks of Cobbosseecontee Stream in West Gardiner, Maine.

Interview conducted on October 25, 2011 in West Gardiner, Maine.

External links:

Audio: click titles below to begin listening

1. What is pollution? Imagine fish holding their breath for weeks - Interview Excerpt #1

2. Smelly memories from in high school in Auburn - Interview Excerpt #2

3. Foam‚ colors‚ dead fish‚ and sludge in a "big swirling mess" - Interview Excerpt #3

4. Clean tributaries in Rangeley and above feeding trout into the Androscoggin - Interview Excerpt #4

5. Mill workers fleeing smelly Rumford for vacations in clean Rangeley - Interview Excerpt #5

6. Shoe shops to hospitals and brewpubs in Lewiston–Auburn - Interview Excerpt #6

7. Buying the polluted river bottom in Berlin‚ NH to boost development - Interview Excerpt #7

8. "There’s nothing like standing in a river..." - Interview Excerpt #8

9. Technology and globalization creating a cleaner river for recreation - Interview Excerpt #9