WINTERPORT – The Department of Environmental Protection has put its stamp of approval on the removal of the West Winterport Dam.

After months of reviewing the controversial project, state environmental protection Commissioner Martha Kirkpatrick approved a permit that will enable the environmental group Facilitators Improving Salmonid Habitat to remove the 90-foot-long former hydroelectric dam on Marsh Stream between Winterport and Frankfort.

Formally, the permit is known as the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act permit and Water Quality Certification.

The permit carries a list of conditions FISH must adhere to when removing the dam, including installation of a dry hydrant for fire protection; erosion control; and stream bank stability. It also grants opponents of the project an opportunity to appeal the matter to the Board of Environmental Protection.

“I’m very pleased. It’s been a long battle and I know we’ve got a ways to go yet,” said FISH President Bill Townsend, a Skowhegan attorney. “We’re still going to have to deal with some issues, but it’s a great step in the right direction.”

FISH wants to remove the dam to improve the ability of the endangered Atlantic salmon and other anadromous species to travel up the Marsh Stream to spawn. Surveys of the stream, which winds through northeastern Waldo County before entering the Penobscot River at Frankfort, have determined it is prime habitat for spawning salmon. FISH also wants to bring the stream back to its free-flowing natural state.

Opponents of removal fear the loss of the dam’s 3-mile-long impoundment would remove a source of water for fire protection and also could result in flooding caused by ice jams. The potential loss of recreational uses and waterfowl habitat along the man-made pond are other causes for concerns.

Marsh Stream serves as the border between Frankfort and Winterport and both communities will hold special town meetings this week to gauge the voters’ willingness to commit tax dollars in a fight to preserve the dam.

Articles on the warrants ask for funds for engineering studies and estimates of what it would cost to maintain and operate the dam should the towns gain possession. There also are articles dealing with taking the dam by eminent domain.

“In the short term, this is going to shift back to the political arena,” Charles Gilbert, the Bangor attorney hired by the towns to represent them against FISH’s proposal, said Friday. “This will give the townspeople the ability to determine what the political will of the community is.”

Besides meeting the conditions required by the DEP, FISH also must comply with all federal, state and local licenses and permits prior to or during the dismantling of the dam.

FISH expects to learn by the end of the month if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will support the project. FERC already indicated it will issue a permit. Federal fish and wildlife agencies also support the dam’s removal.

The DEP order also requires that FISH obtain a shore-land zoning permit from the town. The ruling states that “it is up to the towns” to determine whether approval is required for the removal of the dam under local shore-land zoning or any other local ordinances.

“We know we’re going to have to deal with shore-land zoning and eminent domain, but we feel we’re headed in the right direction,” FISH president Townsend said Friday.

Besides having the right to file an appeal through the Board of Environmental Protection, town attorney Gilbert said Winterport and Frankfort residents could press the matter in court as well. Gilbert said the towns believe there are title issues that need to be researched further.

Records show that public money was invested in the dam in the 1940s.

In the ruling, the DEP stated that the removal permit was valid only as long as FISH holds sufficient title, right or interest in all the property involved, including the dam.

“Depending upon what the historical records show, there could be a court action to determine the towns’ ownership or part ownership of the dam,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert also noted that a number of the DEP legal interpretations that ruled in favor of FISH could be challenged. He said a number of unanswered questions surrounding the issue of dam removal remain that had implications far beyond West Winterport.

“I don’t agree with some of their legal rulings,” Gilbert said. “We are prepared to make those legal arguments and pursue those issues later. Right now we’ll wait and see what happens at the town meetings. I think the boards of selectmen will want to know what the people want before they tell me what to do.”