The Portland City Council voted to require all coal  that is transported or stored within the city to be stored under a “permanent covering” as of January 1, 2027. The council also voted to ban the transport or storage of more than one ton (907 kilograms) of coal in the city in Maine from December 31, 2029. Residents campaigned for the closure of the open-air coal stockpile at Sprague Energy’s Cassidy Point terminal and had proposed a referendum on the coal phase-out ordinance later this year. Instead, the council voted to adopt the ordinance. Sprague Energy supplies about 40,000 tons (36,287 tonnes) of thermal coal a year to the Nine Dragons Paper Company’s pulp and paper mill in Rumford. (Maine Public, Portland City Council [Pdf])

Portland passes measure to ban waterfront coal stockpile

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire

Published August 26, 2025

When Katie and Harley Marshall moved to Portland’s west end 15 years ago, they didn’t realize they’d be living within eyesight of 40,000 tons of coal at Sprague Energy Co.’s Cassidy Point terminal.

“Never thought about it, nobody said anything, the realtor didn’t say anything,” said Katie Marshall. “I mean, I don’t know how hazardous it is.”

But Marshall definitely definitely noticed it was harder to keep her house clean.

“Our windowsills are packed full of dust, all the time, and the countertops and the kitchen. Every day I can wipe the countertop in the kitchen and it’s black,” Marshall said. 

“Again, I don’t know if it is coal dust; I haven’t had it tested,” she added. 

The open air coal stockpile on the Portland waterfront will have to be covered and eventually removed under a new ordinance approved by the city council.

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The measure is a victory for local activists concerned about dust pollution from the pile. 

Coal dust is a well known hazard to human health. It’s been linked to lung diseases and other illnesses in miners.

But Sarah Southard says there’s less attention on hazardous coal dust drifting off open piles like the one on Cassidy Point. And many people are unaware it’s even there.

“It’s something that didn’t really have a lot of regulation before, or a lot of awareness around,” Southard said. “It is good for people to be asking questions about and that was one of the big goals of the project.”

Southard helped organize a campaign to cover the pile after learning there were no state or federal regulations on open air coal storage.

Organizers collected enough signatures to put restrictions on coal storage to city voters in a fall referendum.

Todd Dana, owner of Asia West off Commercial Street, told Portland city councilors at a special meeting Monday that his art and furniture store and surrounding property are often covered in black dust from the coal pile next door.

“While this coal pile may serve a specific industrial — albeit outdated — industrial purpose, I believe there must be a way to balance that with the basic right of neighboring property owners and residents to clean air and a safe environment,” Dana said. 

But instead of voting to send the measure to voters, the city council unanimously adopted it. 

The ordinance requires any coal operations have to be conducted under a permanent covering by 2027. By 2030, it will be illegal to deliver, handle or store more than one ton of coal in the city. 

Sprague Energy argues it follows best practices to keep coal dust in check, by cleaning while coal is unloaded, preventing spills and spreading a crusting agent on the pile to mitigate wind blown dust. A Sprague spokesperson declined to comment on the record about operations at the facility.

Coal is transferred from Sprague’s terminal to the Nine Dragons Paper Co. mill in Rumford, where it is burned to generate electricity and steam, according to Nine Dragons spokesperson Scott Reed. Coal accounts for about 6% of the mill’s fuel needs, Reed added.

“There are technological limitations that require the use of some coal; therefore, eliminating the use of coal without an operationally viable alternative in place would have serious consequences for the mill,” Reed said. “It could disrupt essential operations, affect employee livelihoods, and create challenges for the surrounding economy.”

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection said there are no state or federal regulations that require covering open air coal piles. Regular air quality tests around the pile do not show dangerous levels of particulate pollution. according to the department. 

But nearby residents and business owners have complained about fugitive emissions from the pile and argue coal dust can cause and worsen respiratory illnesses and other health problems and contaminate the environment.

West End Neighborhood Association President Kip DeSerres said the coal pile spreads tiny particulates that threatens people’s health even far away from the facility.

“All of the West End neighborhood is within a mile of this facility so we are all at risk, there is every reason to believe that coal dust is drifting into our neighborhood,” DeSerres said.

Portland is home to one of the last remaining coal piles in New England, as the region has moved towards cleaner fuels.

Only two coal fired power plants remain in the region and both are in New Hampshire — Merrimack Station in Bow and Schiller Station in Portsmouth.

Granite Shore power, which owns the plants, agreed to stop firing the Schiller plant by the end of 2025 and shutter the Merrimack operation by 2028.

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