#searsport — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #searsport, aggregated by home.social.
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#MaineNotes, October 2, 2024
In #MaineNews, #ScarboroughMaine Town Council may put the brakes on the #GorhamSpur tonight, and #BuxtonMaine refuses to pay for 1/2 of a separate pedestrian bridge on busy Route 202 over the #SacoRiver (connecting two trail systems), leaving #HollisMaine to foot the bill (if they decide to pay for it). Meanwhile, #Searsport voters say "yes" to an offshore wind port, but will it be on undeveloped #SearsIsland, or already developed #MackPoint?
#SaveSmilingHillFarm #ProtectSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #Maine #MaineTrails
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#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
#SandDune Vote:
Some Tribal Perspectives on
Proposed Wind Port on #Wahsumkik“..For both #Wabanaki people and non Wabanaki people...It has a great amount of history. It's ecologically sensitive and important to the #ecosystem of our coast...” - Darren Ranco,
PhD, #Penobscot Citizen, Professor at the University of Maine, MITSC Commissioner, #Maine #ClimateCouncil committee member.April, 2024
"Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik) is the largest #undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, and considered important to #BirdMigration. Construction of a wind port operation would require the destruction of 70 acres of #forest and would impact a yet to be assessed area of marine eel grass. The destruction of a sand dune was
reportedly missed in a first assessment of the site, thus prompting the Governor's bill."https://allianceforsearsisland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/tribal-perspective.pdf
#ProtectSearsIsland #WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag #WednesdaysForWildlife -
State applies for federal grant to build wind port on #SearsIsland
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 17, 2024
"The Mills administration said Friday it’s seeking $456 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to build an offshore wind port at #SearsIsland, angering local opponents who say the state is bypassing an alternative at nearby #MackPoint before a study analyzing both sites has even been started. A study is set to be done assessing Sears Island and Mack Point, which is favored by many local residents because it already has an #industrial area. Sears Island has been spared previous #development attempts. The project has divided #environmentalists who support Maine’s foray into wind power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but disagree on where to build a port to support the project."
#RESTOREMaine #WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
Monday Sand Dune Vote: Some Tribal Perspectives on Proposed Wind Port on #Wahsumkik
“..For both #Wabanaki people and non Wabanaki people…It has a great amount of history. It’s ecologically sensitive and important to the ecosystem of our coast…”
– Darren Ranco, PhD, Penobscot Citizen, Professor at the University of Maine, MITSC Commissioner, Maine Climate Council committee member.
via Sunlight Media, April 2, 2024"On Monday, the full Maine Legislature is expected to vote on #LD2266, 'An Act Regarding Offshore Wind Terminals Located in Coastal Sand Dune Systems.' The bill, put forth by the Governor’s office five days before a public hearing, seeks to exempt a sand dune on #SearsIsland, in #Searsport, from current state #environmental protections to explicitly allow for the advancement of an offshore wind port and staging area on the island. Governor Mills announced last month that Sears Island is the state’s 'preferred site' for the major development, instead of the already industrialized #MackPoint, also in #Searsport.
"Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik) is the largest undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, and considered important to #bird migration. Construction of a wind port operation would require the destruction of 70 acres of#forest and would impact a yet to be assessed area of marine eel grass. The destruction of a sand dune was reportedly missed in a first assessment of the site, thus prompting the Governor’s bill.
"At the public hearing on #LD2266, #Passamaquoddy Representative to the Maine Legislature #AaronDana, expressed opposition to the bill and deep concern for the unstudied impacts of off shore wind operations and the siting of a staging development and port on Wahsumkik/Sears Island.
"'These projects are often driven by the profit motives that prioritize corporate interests over the well being of the Indigenous people of Maine and the surrounding communities of non-tribal members alike….The push for the offshore wind project energies, the offshore wind energy must be critically examined from a #Native perspective, taking into account the profound impacts on our environment, our culture, and our communities.'
"'The installation and the operation of the offshore wind turbines often encroach upon sacred sites and areas of cultural significance. This project, especially for the #Penobscot Tribal territory, these places hold deep spiritual value for our community and are integral to our cultural identity. The industrialization of these areas not only desecrates our sacred sites, but they also erode our cultural heritage and the connection to the land and the sea.'"Information shared by Citizens To Protect Sears Island:
VOTE NO ON LD 2266
SEARS ISLAND is NOT the ONLY OPTION for OFFSHORE WIND.1) There has been no environmental impact study for Sears Island, and available environmental assessments that support development of the Island. However multiple assessments are available that discourage port development of any kind on the Island.
2) Sears Island has been deemed to have significant ecological value, invaluable capacity for future carbon sequestration, as well as many rare species, which are all necessary for future climate resilience. [The Resilient Land Mapping Tool, The Nature Conservancy, TNC Screenshots 2010, TNC Screenshots 2050]
3) Mack Point is the fastest option to permit and construct a wind port in Penobscot Bay that meets the 100-acre size requirement. Environmental permits will be granted without delay as the site is industrialized with limited ecological value. If expansion is required over time, collaboration may occur with the old mill site in Bucksport for smaller components, economically uplifting the entire region.
4) The MDOT has not considered the most recent Sprague Energy site use proposal, but it is a further improvement of the Moffatt and Nichols Report of 2023.
5) Construction costs at Mack Point are equivalent, or less than Sears Island ($400 to $500 million). [Moffatt and Nichols Report 2023]. It is NOT TRUE that Sears Island will be cheaper to develop because the State owns the land. The State is not factoring in costs that will be associated with development or operation. For example, causeway expansion and mitigation for wetland loss.
6) Dredging needed at Mack Point is minimal compared to Sears Island, with less potential sediment contamination. [Moffatt and Nichols Report 2023], [2021 Maine DOT OSW port Infrastructure Feasibility Study – Concept Design Report 11-17-2021]
7) Developing Mack Point has strong support from the regional community.
#CulturalGenocide #WabanakiAlliance #Maine #WindTurbines #ProtectTheForest