FOIAs and FOAAs related to Penobscot Bay. 1990s to 2010s

Here are some of  the results of Freedom of Access Act and Freedom of information Act requests. From between 1995 to 2010.

2010 Federal  Ocean Windpower off Maine
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 39 pages

2010 State Wind & Tidal Energy
*  BPL's Dan Pritchard re Monhegan   January 14, 2010 12 pages
Maine tidal energy August 2010 26 pages

2008-2009 Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee 
* MDOT Duane Scott Dec 10, 2008 10 pages
* Governor Baldacci November - December 2008  60 pages
* MDOT Commissioner Cole. June 1 - June 17, 2009  24 pages
* Governor Baldacci & staff. January, February-March, 2009 28 pages.
* Karin Tilberg November -December 2008  23 pages
* Duane Scott April 2009 22 pages
* Baldacci staff, April-June 2009 59 pages
* MDOT Cole staff May 8 - May 29, 2009 64 pages
* MDOTJune 18 - August 3, 2009. 63 pages
* Sears Island Mitigation Bank plan. 28 pages

2003-2004  Sears Island LNG Plan 
* Governor Baldacci December 03 to March 2004. 17 pages
* Jack Cashman DECD. January March 2004.  9 documents
* Governor Baldacci April to June 2004 29 documents\
* Governor Baldacci. June through September 2004.  14 documents

Sears Island Cargoport Proposal 
* 1990s  State and federal FOIA'd documents 45 documents

Maine offshore wind law - listen to the hearing and worksessions that created it in 2010

Listen to audio recordings of legislators, Maine fishermen, windmill proponents, opponents, regulators, scientists and others at public hearings and work sessions in March 2010, on LD 1810 An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Governor's Ocean Energy Task Force.  The bill promotes tidal energy and wave energy production in state waters, but direct commercial windfarming interests to federal waters ten miles and further offshore. Recordings below are from March 11, 18, 23 and 24.

3/11/10  Public Hearing on LD 1810 

* Introduction 7 minutes 

* Senator Hobbins Sponsor of LD 1810 6 min
* Representative Leila Percy, Co chair Marine Resources Comm 2 min
* Beth Nagusky MDEP Energy Office 12 min
* Beth Nagusky questioned 18 min
* Senator Kevin Raye 8 min
* Rep Stacey Fitts, Co-sponsor 12 min
* Rep Seth Berry 4:17 min
* George Lapointe. DMR  6 min
* George Lapointe Q & A  5 min
* Chuck Digate, Neptune Wind 
* Chuck Digate, Neptune Q&A
* Bob Baynes. Lobsterman  2 min
* Shawn Mahoney, CLF  7 min
* John Ferland, Ocean Renewable Power Co  9 min
* Lance Burton of Castine 3 min
* Bill Staby, Resolute Energy  4min
* J. Monroe, Blue Water Dynamos  11 min
* Ron Huber, Penobscot Bay Watch 7 min
* Bob Moore, Dead River Oil, 11 min
* Ned Bulmer, Maine Energy Marketing Assn  9 min
* Carol Lee ex head of Bangor Hydro 7min 
* Caroll Lee, Q&A 6 min
* John Pierce of Harspwell 4 min
* Chris O'Neill, Saco 10 min  

3/18/10  work session  # 1 on LD 1810                                                                 

* Introduction to the Worksession 4min 

* MDEP's Beth Nagusky describes proposed changes to Bill Part A 17 minutes

* MDEP's Nagusky Q&A session 11 minutes

* Patrice Farrell, Maine Lobstermen's Association 3 & 1/2 min

* MDEP's Beth Nagusky describes proposed changes to Part B of LD 1811

* Suzanne Sayre 2 min

* John Ferland Ocean Renewable Energy Corp

* Dianne Messer, advocate, Liberty Maine

* Chris O;Neill, Friends of Maine Mountains

* Todd Rousette (sp?) Preti Flaherty lawfirm

* MDEP's Beth Nagusky describes more changes to Part B

* MDEPs Beth Nagusky on changes to Part C

* MDEP's Beth Nagusky on changes to Part D 

3/23/10 work session #2 on LD 1810

Introduction 90 seconds

Dr Habib Dagher, University of Maine 10 minutes

Dr. Habib Dagher, Q&A 8 minutes

MDEP's Beth Nagusky Q&A 1 11 minutes

Beth Nagusky Q&A 2 12 minutes

Maine Lobstermens Association's Patrice McCarron 6 minutes

Beth Nagusky Q&A 4 9 minutes

Beth Nagusky Q&A 5 17 minutes

Beth Nagusky Q&A 6 to end of work session 19 minutes

3/24/10 work session #3 on LD 1810 (Final )

Part 1 14 minutes Review of  amendments

Part 2 13 min BEP & Municipalities

Part 3 7 min Preamble amendments. Criteria for projects

Part 4 12 min Ocean wind green standard offer 

Part 5 8 min  pricing and funding
Part 6 16 min Where's PUC. What jobs would come

Part 7 13 min Pilot project RFP  Cert of convenience 

Part 8 9 min Not enough info to make goals

Part 9 10 min renewable energy goals

Part 10 8 min Rep Thibideau & Public Advocate Davies

Part 11 8 min  Stop hiding the costs. Make Maine leader.

Part 12 10 min Involve marine resource advisory council

Part 13 11 min Ocean wind green standard  discussed

Part 14 9 minAadditional transmission line capacity issue

Part 15 4 min duplicate policy statements fix. Language review tomorrow
Part 16 8 min Final Motion and discussion.

Windpower: Maine legislators hear from anti-reformers about proposed wind industry reforms.

Maine Legislature. Energy Utilities and Technology Committee

December 18, 2013  Worksession on windpower legislation reform  

Part 1 Windpower task force expert  47min ** Excerpt:  14min 40sec
Part 2  Stacey Fitts 43 minutes
Part 3 Mike Giaimo ISO New England 25min

As supporters of reform  acidly noted to a reporter, the committee listened to opponents of  reform and their tame bureaucrats, but did NOT allow the the reformers themselves  to present their case(s).
Media coverage)

Green Crabs Summit - have the crabs won?

Listen to two speakers then a discussion on the monumental invasion and occupation of Maine state coastal waters by Carcinus Maenas, the Green Crab, and find out who won "this round".

Dr Cynthia McKenzie of the Canadian Dept of Fisheries and Oceans, Newfoundland,  and Chad Coffin, head of Maine Clammers Association, spoke in the afternoon session of the December 16, 2013 Maine Green Crab Summit at the University of Maine in Orono. The event was also streamed live on the internet.

* Cynthia McKenzie 30 min 
* Chad Coffin, 36 minutes
* Panel Discussion 17 minutes
* Pat Keliher  13 minutes


Recordings also include a discussion - occasionally very heated - among the panel and the audience,  including those on the internet, followed by closing remarks by Maine DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher.  The most important consensus of the summit was to kill as many green crabs as possible. Efforts are also underway by the Maine Clammers Association to establish gated-off crab-free coves.

 Coffin of the Clammers' Association heaped scorn on "coastal cleanups" as wastes of money and volunteer energy for cosmetic improvements, and suggested  the money and effort be better spent on  habitat and or species restoration.

Coffin also urged that towns with under 20 licensed commercial clammers lose their municipal shellfish commission, saving DMR money to concentrate on those places with viable shellfisheries and saving those towns the expense of an armed shellfish warden. "There's no clams for them to protect? Doffin said.

Little more than a century after introduction into the Gulf of Maine, the swarming green crab has succeeded in wiping out softshelled clams and mussels.

It is outcompeting lobsters for shallow water lobster trap bait and other foods. Is gnawing eelgrass flat and is boring holes in saltmarsh sediments.

Have the green crabs won?

Fisheries, Aquaculture & Tourism - audio of presentations on bringing coastal Maine's nature-based small businesses together

Fisheries, Aquaculture, Tourism 

Discussion held  December 11, 2013 Belfast ME  MP3s of each speaker

Introduction Natalie Springuel, SeaGrant. 6minutes

Opening Remarks, Natalie Springuel. 8min 47sec

Report by Scott Gunst of Maritime/Admiralty Law firm Reeves/McEwing on licensing and liability.


Can small boat fishermen and aquaculturiststo add ecotourism to their fishing trips?

Introduction 2 to Scott Gunst 2min 5sec

Scott Gunst Part One. 29 min

Scott Gunst, Part Two  26min 20sec

Scott Gunst complete audio 54 minutes

Experience Maritime Maine/ Maine Maritime Museum 10min 22sec


Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association, spoke  and took questions.

Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association

Belle's presentation  11 minutes 
Belle takes questions 8min 13sec 

Belle's complete presentation and Q&A 19 min 20 sec.


Albion, Bucksport Innkeeper 5min 45sec

Maine's 2014 shrimp fishery cancelled just before start of season

According to the Rockland Courier Gazette, Maine's 2014 shrimping season, slated to start in January, has been cancelled - along with the rest of New England. Culprits: overfishing, acid pollution, warming water, three years of mass hatch failure

2015 Shrimp Season Cancelled. 

By Juliette Laaka, Courier Gazette - Knox Village Soup 12/3/13

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Northern Shrimp Section voted Dec. 3 to cancel the 2014 shrimp season due to a collapse of the stock, confirmed the organization's Director of Communications Tina Berger.

Commercial fishery plus 3 years of hatch failures = collapse.

"The writing has been on the wall for years," said Port Clyde Fresh Catch owner and former shrimp fisherman Glen Libby in response to the decision. He said he is not surprised, and added fishermen who went out last year did not earn much money.

"We are affected though, there's no shrimp to peel," he said.

Libby's company processes shrimp, and said during the winter, crabs will be the fill-in for his business. He added fishermen will most likely shift to catching scallops and continue fishing for lobster and crabs if they have the necessary permits.

He said the fishery will correct itself, citing the last year-long shutdown resulted in an increase in stock numbers.

The Last Tow? ASMFC: shrimpers must stay in port in 2014

Last year's season, which began in late January, yielded about a quarter of the allowable catch allotted the previous year, 1.4 million pounds. The commission's technical committee recommended not having a 2013 season due to over fishing and environmental stresses on the stock, but a shorter season with less yield was allowed.

Surveys indicate three successive years of recruitment failure and continuing warm temperatures mean poor prospects for the near future, both in terms of the fishery and for stock recovery. A season shut down is recommended to maximize spawning potential of the population.

The Gulf of Maine fishery for northern shrimp is managed through an interstate agreement between the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusett.

End

Belfast City Council joins baywide call for EIS study on Searsport megadredge & spoil dump plan

Belfast City Council votes to join other concerned towns around Penobscot Bay in calling for EIS of  Searsport harbor expansion dredge/disposal plan

Listen to the Belfast City Council (8min 30sec) on November 19th  reviewing a
letter from Islesboro's selectboard and then voting to join the chorus of towns around the bay calling for preparation of an Environmental Impact Study on the controversial Searsport Harbor  mega-dredge plan.

Listen to Friends of Penobscot Bay board member Peter Wilkinson speak to the Council in support of their decision to call for an EIS for the project.

Wilkinson pointed out that one of the top concerns is the  release and resuspension of a lobster-choking witches' brew of  mercury and other toxics into the waters of the upper bay, , with predictably severe impacts on lobstering

 Belfast resident Tony Kulik also spoke to the Belfast City Council urging them to send a letter to the  Army Corps of Engineers concerning the dredge spoils threat.

 Media coverage of the City Council meeting.

Media coverage of 11/18/13 Belfast city council vote to join bay towns calll for EIS of megadredge plan.

Belfast Republican Journal
City to send letter asking for further study of potential impact of project

Council raises concerns about proposed dump site for Searsport dredging project

By Ben Holbrook | Nov 21, 2013

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BELFAST — Belfast councilors weighed in on the proposed plans to dredge Searsport Harbor at Mack Point and called for more environmental review before the project moves forward.

The proposed dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Maine Department of Transportation calls for removing nearly 1 million cubic yards of material from the harbor. The spoils from the dredge would then be dumped off of Islesboro or at a Rockland site.

Specifically, the dredging project would involve increasing the depth of the entrance channel and turning basin in Searsport Harbor from its current depth of 35 feet to 40 feet deep. In addition, the entrance channel would be widened at its narrowest point from 500 feet to 650 feet wide.

Finally, a maneuvering area would be created in Long Cove, which is adjacent to the eastern berth along the State Pier, according to the ACE.

Because of the potential impact to the island community, the Islesboro Board of Selectmen asked the city to send a letter to the ACE requesting a detailed Environmental Impact Statement or a full Supplemental Environmental Assessment be completed before the dredging project begins.

In the letter sent to the council, the Islesboro selectmen state the proposed dredging would “have an adverse effect on businesses in the region, especially lobstering, boatyards and the service sector built upon a scenic and environmentally viable bay.”

Later in the letter, the selectmen state that they are not questioning the need for minor dredging in Searsport Harbor, but that their issue is with the amount of material proposed to be dredged.

During the public comment portion of Tuesday's meeting, Belfast resident Peter Wilkinson urged the council to not only send the letter requesting additional study of the project, but to demand that the studies be completed.

Wilkinson said there is concern that the amount of material that will be removed as part of the proposed dredging project will allow for further development at Mack Point — possibly in the form of a deep water cargo port.

“If it became a deep water cargo port there would be such disruption of the bay it would make the formerly proposed LPG tank seem somewhat benign in comparison,” Wilkinson said.

City Manager Joseph Slocum noted in his manager's report to councilors that he spoke with a local fisherman who said the area where the dredge spoils would be dumped off of Islesboro is a valuable resource for incubating young lobsters.

Councilor Mike Hurley said he also spoke with local fishermen who had concerns about the location of where the spoils would be dumped before he motioned to have the city send a letter to the ACE asking for the Environmental Impact Study or a full Supplemental Environmental Assessment.

After further discussion, Hurley clarified that the council is not opposed to the dredging but it is concerned about the location where the dredged materials will be dumped.

Mayor Walter Ash agreed and questioned whether a suggestion could be made to the ACE to consider dumping the spoils on land as opposed to in the bay, which could negatively impact fishing grounds.

“I'm quite concerned about it myself,” Ash said of where the spoils would be dumped.

Councilors unanimously approved Hurley's motion to send a letter to the ACE asking for further study of the dredging project before it begins

DMR's Environmental Coordinator: Powerful official, little accountability.

Brian Swan was the Maine Department of Marine Resources  Environmental Coordinator for nearly 20 years.  This made him one of Maine's most powerful yet little known environmental officials. Why is Environmental Coordinating a powerful job? Read on.

Brian Swan: Does he or doesn't he?

The Environmental Coordinator is responsible for "conducting/coordinating environmental impact reviews for permits and federal consistency determinations for projects in the coastal zone".(1)

Such projects include "Wetland alteration, pollution discharge and dredging/dredge material disposal, both in organized and unorganized territories."  


 When developers come around with applications for coastal or marine development projects, the Environmental Coordinator's job has been to speak for Maine's marine resources. The fate of Maine's plankton, finfish, shellfish, seaworms, seabirds, seaweeds, eelgrass and marine mammals, the fate of the public's and shoreowners' access to the state's coastal waters, the fate of dredging and ocean windpower projects all rest in his hands. 

Why? Because the agencies that issue or deny permits or pollution licenses to developer wannabes consider the Environmental Coordinator's recommendations to be authoritative. 

If he tells a state or federal agency  on environmental permits and licenses like Maine DEP, Bureau of Public Land or fed agencies NOAA and Army Corps of Engineers that there will be "no significant adverse impact" from a dredging project, or armoring an eroding shoreline with boulders,  then those agencies then check off the box for "habitat and water quality of Maine's marine and estuarine fish and shellfish" in the development application. If the E.C. says otherwise,then its full stop for the developer.

What makes the Coordinator so powerful?  To put it simply: without his okay, neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor other federal or state agencies can approve development projects in Maine's territorial sea  or in her her bays, tidal wetlands or tidal rivers. 

This pursuant to the federal Coastal Zone Management Act or CZMA. As Maine's  2013 Guide to the Coastal Zone Management Act notes: 

"A federal license or permit, or other form of federal approval, certification, or authorization, listed below, may not be issued until the State concurs that the proposed activity is consistent with the enforceable policies of the Maine Coastal Program."

The Environmental Coordinator is the Maine state official who must concur on whether or not the applicant has met the "consistency standards" requirements of the Act.

Will a project have a  "significant adverse impacts to marine resources, traditional fishing, recreation, navigation or riparian access",

Whether it is a mammoth dredging project proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S Navy seeking to test sonar off Bath, the UMaine's DeepCwind Consortium floating windpower project off Monhegan, or a coastal homeowner seeking seeking to armor an eroding shoreline, if the Environmental Coordinator decides it'll have "significant" adverse impacts to our state's marine cology " adverse" then its not going to happen.   Details Here federal and here state

Do the Environmental Coordinator protect marine living marine resources or doesn't he?  

Good Bryan

Hard to say. The  record of Maine's former EC  conserving Maine's marine resources is hard to tell. For as far as Mr. Swan was concerned, his decisions and his records were seemingly none of our business. 

In the few Penobscot Bay area Environmental Reviews he has released - under pressure - Mr Swan has warned against   found "no significant impacts" in development proposals that terraformed the shore in Owls Head, Camden and Belfast

Bad Bryan

Is this a trend?  At a recent meeting and email correspondence recent and past, Mr Swan has shown extreme reluctance to making available the memos he has sent the Army Corps of Engineers and Maine DEP over the past two decades, advising them on the environmental impact to marine resources of these projects of reviewing development projects around Penobscot Bay.

Mr. Swan is also "responsible for environmental impact reviews on projects seeking public lands leases on publicly owned submerged and/or inter-tidal lands, which could have an effect on Maine's fisheries infrastructure, as well as reviewing and commenting on municipal comprehensive plans which may affect marine, estuarine and riverine resources"

Quite a loaded plate for a single midlevel DMR official!

He must be familiar with  local, state and federal officials and the  rules regulations laws and ordinances they regulate, ranging from municipal clam committees to Maine DEP, Maine DOT, the Bureau of Public Lands, the Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA and the Federal Highway administration.

When one of those agencies or municipalitiies needs to know if a development proposal would harm Maine's marine ecology, they ask DMR's Environmental Coordinator. Whatever he tells them they accept as the facts, and use it to inform their permit decisions.

From all evidence, however, Swan  rubberstamps every_ coastal sprawl application brought before him!  It doesn't matter if it's a homeowner wanting to "armor" 50 feet of a naturally eroding shore, or Sears Island's port wannabees. Or giant gas tank applicant DCP Midstream-which yearns to gobble acres of coastal forest, turning the natural tea of forest runoff there into petrol-tainted "stormwater" from its asphalt concrete and steel replacement of the existing forest, wetlands and peat.

He approves them all. No matter how big or small, it's always "no significant impacts".  At least that is what one must conclude by reading the few "reviews" of he has written that he has - very  grudgingly -  released.

Are coastal developers so ecologically conscious lately, their projects designed with such exquisite sensitivity?  Evidently Swan thinks so.

We've tried to get him to release copies of the "Impact reviews"  (aka "comments"  that he has written on development projects around Penobscot Bay.  But Brian "No significant Impact, no public hearing" Swan says he can't do that.   He only files projects by the owner's name. And, now,  he can't supply a list of those names. In fact, he says, why don't I go away? Go ask the Army Corps of Engineers for what he sent them, he urged. Or Maine DEP.

So I asked the Army Corps guy: he said get them from Swan. Swan's the originator. He is right of course.

But when I met with Swan, even though his filing cabinet and computer were only yards away from us, he said it would take up to four full work days of sustained effort to find his own files. Regrettably,  have to charge me $400 bucks or more for having to spend all those days hunting through his file drawer of "reviews" he wrote last year.

The tenacity of his opposition to revealing his own work product (not a scrap of it "confidential" by the way) strongly suggests that Brian Swan has something to hide.

rules and laws that restrict and guide development and conservation Maine's coastal zone and the interested parties from across the social and economic spectrum.  He must have the strength to hold firm in dedense opf anture and when to compromise

Under the state's rules, Brian Swan can order a public meeting or even a public hearing be held on a development application, either on his own judgement or based on a show of significant interest from interested persons.  For, the more input he gets from the interested and affected coastal public and private interests, the better his evaluation must surely be.

So how often does Maine Department of Marine Resources's Environmental Coordinator call a public meeting or hearing? 


Public Notice or Legal Notice # 3456348

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of Intent not to hold a Public Meeting The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has determined not to hold a public meeting on a proposal by Bath Iron Works to conduct maintenance dredging of up to 65,000 cubic yards of sandy material about every three years over a ten year period from an ~ 0.40 acre area within their dry dock Sinking Hole, a 5.5 acre ~ - 70 ft. MLW deep area previously constructed in the river. Disposal of materials would be in the river north of Bluff Head, Arrowsic in ~ 98 ft. of water, a location used by the Corps of Engineers for disposal of dredged material from the Kennebec River federal navigation project. Pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. ?480-D, sub-?9 DMR will accept verbal and written comments in lieu of a public meeting. If five or more persons request a public meeting within 30 days of this notice, by June 16, 2012, DMR will hold such a meeting. Contact: Brian Swan, DMR, P.O. Box 8, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575; tel.: 633-9510. #4593236

Posting Date:

05/17/2012

Penobscot Bay's sewage plants dump 2.4 billion gallons of treated wastewater into the bay every year

What do the people of Rockland, Camden, Belfast, Searsport, Castine, Islesboro and North Haven have in common? Our sewage treatment plants discharge about 6.5 million gallons of treated wastewater into the bay per day, or 2.4 billion gallons per year. 

Operating a sewage treatment plant is both an exacting technological process and a demanding art. Maine DEP monitors the outfall reports from these operations, praising those which stay within their discharge limits and prodding those that don't into bettering their ways. 

Here are  links to each of these towns' most recent DEP wastewater treatment licences and their DEP ID numbers

Note MGD = million gallons per day
Rockland

Rockland   3.3 MGD  5.7bypass	Rockland POTW, City of (PDF) (25 pp, 216K)	ME0100595	11/21/2009
Rockland (Atlantic Ocean)	Rockland POTW, City of (PDF) (84 pp, 229K)	ME0100595	12/21/2007
Rockland(RocklandHarbor)	Rockland POTW, City of (PDF) (13 pp, 102K)	ME0100595	01/31/2008

Camden (Camden Harbor Watershed) 1.21MGD

Camden, Town of (PDF)(32 pp, 3MB)

ME0100137

07/18/2003

Belfast (Belfast Harbor)  1.49 MGD	Belfast POTW, City of (PDF) (81 pp, 3.2MB)	ME0101532	02/18/2011

Belfast

Moore’s Septic, Inc. (PDF)(40 pp, 3.2MB)

MEU508259

10/03/2012

Searsport  0.20 MGD

Searsport, Town of (PDF) (79 pp, 1.4MB)

ME0101966

11/12/2008

Islesboro  (East Pen Bay)   0.0637 MGD

Islesboro, Town of (PDF) (11 pp, 1.8MB)

ME0100269

01/20/2012

Castine	Castine POTW, Town of (PDF) (15 pp, 55K)	ME0101192	03/12/2008
0.126 MGD (Castine Harbor)	Castine POTW, Town of (PDF) (77 pp, 2.3MB)	ME0101192	12/29/2009

North Haven Drinking H2O filter plant  MGDday (Fresh Pond)	North Haven DWTP, Town of (PDF) (34 pp, 1.1MB)	ME0102482	08/02/2012
2,000 GPD (0.002 MGD)	North Haven DWTP, Town of (PDF) (22 pp, 1.1MB)	ME0102482	06/15/2007

Vinalhaven(Atlantic Ocean) 0.129 mgd

Vinalhaven POTW, Town of (PDF) (49 pp, 2.1MB)