Bucksport council adopted Silver Lake Dam moratorium in 2024

Bucksport’s Town Council adopted an emergency moratorium concerning the potential abandonment of Silver Lake Dam at a special meeting on Aug. 27, 2024. The action gave the council time to develop local rules before a possible ownership or abandonment decision involving the dam.

The planned ordinance was intended to address issues not fully covered by state law. Those issues included public safety, the potential economic impact on Bucksport and the financial capacity of people or entities that might buy the dam.

Local safeguards were the next step

The moratorium focused the town’s review on risks that could affect residents, the local economy and Bucksport’s financial exposure if responsibility for the dam changed. Developing an ordinance was the next known step, with the goal of establishing local safeguards around a potential buyer, ownership change or abandonment.

The public account of the 2024 action does not identify a selected buyer or a final abandonment decision. The moratorium should therefore be understood as a government action taken during a local review, not as confirmation that the dam was abandoned or that an emergency was underway.