Annual report, 1977

This series is composed of the unpublished annual reports of the Androscoggin River studies completed by Walter Lawrance and other researchers, known collectively as the Androscoggin River Technical Committee, from 1943 to 1977 (the 1964 report is missing). The earliest report is from 1943 and was dedicated to determining the intensity and cause of the river's nauseous odor in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Daily observations were made from May 19-Sept. 30, 1943, followed by weekly observations in Oct. 1943. The resulting annual report contains information on air temperature, humidity, weather conditions, wind velocity, wind direction, volume over Lewiston Falls, color of the river water, river surface conditions, and the type and intensity of the river odor. Additionally, the report included press coverage on issues relative to the Androscoggin River and pollution control efforts. The study followed a similar model each year, beginning in the early summer and concluding in the early to mid fall.

By 1948, the annual report was expanded to include water, as well as air, quality data. Additionally, attention was given to the use of sodium nitrate as a means of supplying oxygen to the river water. The 1962 annual report includes the "Final Report, Androscoggin River Odor." Subsequent years contain a variety of reports, such as "Lewiston-Auburn General Data," "Androscoggin River and Pool Data," "Mill Pollution to Androscoggin River," "Benthal Activity in the Pool" "Analytical Data," along with the press clippings. The last annual report, produced in 1977, includes a summary of water quality and important achievements in its improvement. The report begins, "Water quality in the Androscoggin river from Berlin, New Hampshire to Rumford (V.B.), Maine, is now the highest in at least thirty-five years. All three waste treatments were in continuous and stabler operation and the effluents contained a very low pollution load."

Lawrance served as Chairman of the Androscoggin River Technical Committee from 1943 to 1977. He was joined by representatives from each of the big three paper mills who used the river. Other known committee members include: Stuart R. Cooper, who served from 1958 to 1977 and represented the Oxford Paper Company and the Boise Cascade Paper Company, Thomas E. Linder, from 1970 to 1977, who represented the International Paper Company, and Earl L. Hanson, from 1974 to 1977, who represented the Brown Company.