In a preview of state legislative debate next session, an environmental group tried to make a point last week about toxins in Maine’s rivers. Its report was a great chance to tell Maine residents about the condition of their rivers. Too bad the message got lost in the telling.

The environmentalists — Public Interest Research Group — didn’t help matters by ominously labeling their report “Troubled Waters” with a graphic cover illustration of a gigantic pipe pouring sludge into a pristine river. Not exactly a good way to make friends among the locals.

On the other side, the Maine Pulp & Paper Association responded to the report by pointing out the group’s headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and, it followed, worthy of contempt. The argument might have been a bit stronger if many of the association’s members were not also based out of state.

But the truly puzzling thing about the report and the reaction is why there is an argument at all. PIRG wants greater reporting of toxic emissions, obviously, so it can use the numbers to force industry to reduce the amount of pollutants. But industry has been doing just that for several years — successfully cutting back the toxic chemicals it uses and emits. The question is over pace: Is it going to take five or 15 years to meet the goal of making all Maine rivers clean enough for fishing and swimming for everyone?

PIRG has some good ideas: It wants, for instance, to broaden the reporting under what is known as the Toxics Release Inventory to include sewage treatment plants and waste incinerators. It argues for reporting all pollutants emitted into public waters, not just those that reach a certain threshold. Hardly radical. Unfortunately, it placed these recommendations among scary numbers that make it sound as if the state’s rivers are ready to explode with poisons. The paper association reacted to that hyperbole.

This was a missed opportunity for the two sides to agree on the steps for further progress, to take effective action to make Maine’s rivers cleaner. Maybe no one told them that they’re supposed to save the hand grenades for the legislative session.