The Maine Nordiques lead the series against the Maryland Black Bears, after a 2-0 win on the road in game one.

The first period was scoreless, and in the middle of the second period, the Nordiques took the lead when Ryan Panico scored the first goal.

Cole Hipkin

increased the lead to 2-0 halfway through the third period.

Next up:

The teams play each other again for Game 2 on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CST at Piney Orchard Ice Arena.

Automated articles produced by United Robots on behalf of The Rink Live.

Gravity is a friend of wastewater treatment plants, which is why the facilities are typically placed at low elevations, often along Maine’s extensive coastline.

Placing them in low-lying areas makes it easy to collect wastewater from uphill sinks and toilets. And placing them near waterways makes it easy to discharge filtered and disinfected water, or effluent, back into our rivers, reservoirs and harbors. 

Many wastewater facilities in Maine and across the country were built after the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, meaning some are now 50 years old. They need upgrades not only given their age, but because of threats posed by climate change. Coastal facilities now see regular flooding during storms and high tides. 

“Floodwaters can damage or destroy pumps, blowers and electronics kept in basements,” said Robert Lalli, the Wiscasset wastewater treatment plant superintendent. “And if salt water gets into sewage aeration tanks, it can disrupt the microbiology necessary to break down sewage and other hazardous compounds. Untreated sewage can then overflow into waterways, harming wildlife and those who fish for a living.” 

It can also put Maine’s sources of drinking water at risk.

With the help of $40 million in federal funding, Maine communities are finding new ways to deal with threats to their wastewater plants.

The most common approach is to elevate tanks and buildings, and make other structural improvements that protect facilities from sea-level rise. This is happening all along the state’s coastline, from Kittery to Eastport.

In Machias, for example, a new pump station will keep the plant operating during heavy rains, which will help prevent sewage overflows like those that caused clam flat closures on the Machias River. 

“More and more intense storms are working against us,” said Mike Riley, the combined sewer overflow abatement coordinator at the state Department of Environmental Protection. “But the new pump station, which will hopefully be up and running by the end of this year, will significantly reduce, if not prevent, overflows.”

The nearly $3.6 million project was paid for largely through a DEP grant.

Machias also plans to add a combination of seawalls (vertical or near-vertical walls) and berms (raised and sloping banks), which will protect the facility and downtown streets while creating a scenic river walk. This project is in the designing and permitting phase, said Dr. Tora Johnson, who runs a GIS Lab at the Machias-based Sunrise County Economic Council. 

Portland, meanwhile, is installing four underground tanks that will hold millions of gallons of stormwater and wastewater, and keep its facility from backing up — and sending untreated wastewater into the nearby tidal basin, Back Cove.

“This pollution-control effort has been in the works for some time,” said Bill Boornazian, Portland’s water resources manager. “But the need is growing due to sea-level rise and regular flooding.” 

“The biggest climate change challenge we have is intense rain events in the winter when the ground is frozen,” Boornazian added. They make the ground “like asphalt,” he said, noting that the new tanks will improve drainage and reduce flooding of city streets. 

Portland is scheduled to start using the new tanks in December, said Brad Roland, a senior project engineer with the city’s Department of Public Works. He said the project, which began before the pandemic, will cost around $42 million. 

The Ogunquit Sewer District plant sits on a long, sandy peninsula between the Ogunquit River and the ocean. At this picturesque and vulnerable spot, a second story is being added to a garage for increased office space, and the existing tank walls will be made taller, according to Philip Pickering, the sewer district superintendent. The electrical equipment and generator at a nearby pumping station will also be elevated.

But it’s only a temporary fix. A 2012 study found there was “no practical solution” that would allow the site to host a wastewater treatment plant beyond 2052 because of the “elevated risk from sea-level rise, flooding and shoreline erosion.” 

Ogunquit is raising funds to relocate the facility about two miles west of its current location. The move, likely to occur between 2040 and 2055, is estimated to cost $30 million. 

Facing a similar dilemma, Wiscasset officials hope to move the town’s facility as soon as a suitable site is found. The current location on the Sheepscot River is “the lowest point in Wiscasset,” said Lalli. 

“We’ve had salt water come through our gates and into our tanks,” he said. “A seawall is impractical. If we moved up just three or four blocks, we’d be fine.”

If officials find a site close to the current location, it will cost around $35 million. If the new site is farther away and requires additional pipe laying and pumping stations, Lalli said, the cost could rise to at least $45 million.

Lynda DeWitt

Longtime editor and writer Lynda DeWitt has written about natural history for many organizations, including the National Geographic Society, Discovery Communications, Scholastic Productions, and Smithsonian’s National Academies of Sciences. She is the author of “What Will the Weather Be?” and splits her time between Maine and Maryland.

The Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley where a mass shooting occurred in October has reopened, reports the Associated Press, The Washington Post and New York Daily News.

Justin and Samantha Juray, owners of Just-In-Time Recreation, opened the doors of the venue on Friday, May 3, six months after the state’s deadliest shooting that killed 18 people and injured 13. 

Gunman Robert Card killed eight people at the Jurays’ bowling alley and then drove to a nearby bar, Schemengees Bar and Grille, and killed 10 more people. He later died by suicide. 

“It’s never going to leave my head,” Samantha, 34, said, per AP. “I think if we don’t move forward — not that there was a point to this whole thing anyway — but we’re just going to allow the people that have taken so much from us win.”

Still, Justin, 43, said he was hesitant about reopening the bowling alley —that was until the Lewiston community supported the pair.

Kathy Lebel, owner of Schemengees Bar & Grille, also hopes to reopen her establishment but at a different location.

Several patrons attended the reopening, including people like Colin, who was at the bowling alley the night of the mass shooting. Colin went to Friday’s event with his mother and father, John Robinson.

“I can’t say how great this day is,” Robinson said, per AP. “An opportunity to celebrate their lives. To celebrate the rebirth of Just-In-Time.”

Employee Tom Giberti also told the outlet that people are “so excited to get us back.”

“The community has been phenomenal,” he said. “They’ve been right here for us, they’ve been supporting us.”

Giberti, 70, is one of the heroic community members who saved the lives of at least four children that day. Before he could get himself to safety, he took the children between the lanes to an area behind the bowling pins. 

He was shot in both legs a total of five times and hit with shrapnel. He underwent surgery and now shows very few signs of his injuries, according to AP.

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Among the eight people who were killed were two Just-In-Time staff members. A majority of the staff have returned to work.

The bowling alley honored those who died by displaying photos of the eight people who lost their lives at Just-In-Time, and bowling pins with the names of the 18 shooting victims behind the front desk.

Additionally, the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America gave the venue a new scoring system, new automatic bumpers, and gutters. It also provided a seasoned expert who fixes bowling machines to spend a week at the site, per The Washington Post.

There was also a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday afternoon, with Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline celebrating the reopening. “This is us, standing back up again,” said Sheline. “With all of you here, it’s very clear. Lewiston can never be kept down.”

“You’re the reason,” Justin added. “This is why. This is why we decided to reopen.”