The Stream, July 26: Dismantling of Veazie Dam Hopes to Restore Decimated Fish Population

Marine Life
A decade long, $US 60 million project will dismantle the Veazie Dam on Maine’s Penobscot River, to the relief of conservationists, government officials, and anglers alike, The New York Times reported. Dams on the river and pollution from paper mills have reduced the number of river herring running upriver from as many as 20 million to a mere 54 in 2012.

By devoting only one percent of its land to algae farms, Australia could potentially become an oil exporter like the Middle East, The Fish Site reported. As opposed to the traditional breeding of algae for waste water treatment, health foods, and aquaculture, newly conducted research hopes to harness the country’s hundreds of native species in freshwater and saltwater environments for developing commercially viable fuels.

Japan
TEPCO’s president and vice president have had their salaries cut 10 percent for one month after delaying disclosure of a radioactive groundwater leak from their Fukushima plant, Bloomberg News reported. Although the company has known about the leak since June, it did not acknowledge so until July 22, citing the need for more reliable data as the reason for late notice.

Water Management
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) meets today to discuss the Dow Chemical Company’s priority water rights on Texas’ Brazos River, The Texas Tribune reported. Regional farmers will be closely following the meeting, in the hopes that the TCEQ will rescind its previous order for them to curtail water use after the company invoked its water rights earlier in July.