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Dec 30, 2018

Two NGOs petition for BEP review of Nordic Aquafarms, interested party status, public hearing.

Below read  petitions by two  organizations sent Maine Department of Environmental Protection in late November. The Maine Lobstering Union and Upsteam Watch asked to be recognized as interested parties regarding the Nordic Aquafarms application to build a salmon tankfarm in Belfast and discharge effluent into Belfast Bay.  They also requested that Maine Board of Environmental Protection take over review of the project and that a public hearing be held.

MLU Petition to Intervene 11/26/18

MLU Request for public hearing on Nordic application 11/26/128

Upstream Watch petition for Maine Board of Environmental Protection to assume Jurisdiction over NAF application 11/26/18

Upstream Watch Request for Public Hearing 11/26/18

Upstream Watch Petition for Interested Party Status 11/26/18

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Maine DEP acting chief recommends against citizen board review of Nordic Aquafarms plan.

Salmon tankfarm opponents are rightfully livid over Maine DEP's acting chief Melanie Loyzim's actions on the controversial salmon tank farm plans by Nordic Aquaculture proposed to discharge into Belfast Bay
Loyzim denied out of hand petitions from Maine Lobstering Union and Upstream Watch requesting (1) a public hearing and (2) intervenor status. She also declared there was little public interest or controversy, recommending against MLU's request that BEP assume jurisdiction of the review of the project its proposed outfall's proposed contents and its baywater intake.
Read MLU's and Upstream Watch petitions here
Loyzim used indefensible assertio.ns that there was no possible significance to the effluvia of up to 20 million fish per year in the proposed CAFO tanks - largest ever in the United States - discharging out a single pipeline into the bay 24/7. What could go wrong?
Raising and slaughtering up to 20 million fish per year at Nordic and Whole Oceans - one at each end of Penobscot Bay's estuary - is nothing special, Loyzim asserted in her letter to conservation attorney Kim Tucker. Just like any little existing fishfarm, Loyzim smirked, enjoying her brief moment of ecological vandalism at the helm of the disfunctional-under-Lepage agency.
One remembers the good old days of Late McKernan Early Angus King , early baldacci,  when the Board of Environmental Protection performed its duty and routinely heard  citizen appeals - I actually won a special condition added to MBNA's Ducktrap Mtn guest cottage rush job tht was sprawling into an important deer wintering area   No more cottages, BEP announced. How MBNA's VP Shane Flynn howled! 


Dec 24, 2018

Media releases writ by Ron Huber, July 27 2000 to Feb 7 2005

Between July 27, 2000 and February 7, 2005 the below 72 media releases penned by Ron Huber were published by the Maine Environmental Policy Institute,  under the rubric of "Task Force Atlantis" for marine protected areas and "Penobscot Bay Watch" for everything else within that bay &  the Gulf of Maine. The same issues as today: aquaculture expansion, commercial, residential and marina sprawl, marine protected areas and offshore carbon prospecting  (Note: with the passing of time, some of the links within the articles don't work, including audio hosted on now defunct Maine Indymedia, in the RealMedia format. 

President should designate Gulf of Maine border wilderness 7/27/00 (Task Force Atlantis)




** Lobstermen battle Samoset Resort over harbor fishing grounds  (Penobscot Bay Watch, 3/1/01) 

















** Maine legislature to consider aquaculture moratorium (Penobscot Bay Watch, 2/19/02)



** Voices in the maine aquaculture reform debate (Penobscot Bay Watch, 2/26/02)  



*  Northport, Maine Speaks Out on Maine Aquaculture Bills (Penobscot Bay Watch, 4/7/03)










Beginning of Maine's coastwide Bay Management Project (Penobscot Bay Watch, 2/7/05)  


Dec 12, 2018

Save Our Smolts! Acidification and aluminum - a lethal combination

Scientific reports on the salmon smolting success for salmon making their way out into the Bay , when acidified aluminum-rich waters.  lurk at the river mouthWhile overfishing and predation of adult salmon  reduce salmon numbers, much concern is focused on challenges to successful  transition from a freshwater existence to a saltwater existence. Failures  at that stage, from even brief exposures to acidified water rich with  dissolved aluminum, can be lethal, as noted below. 

""The hypothesis is that sublethally stressed smolts will have reduced smolt-to-adult survival in the marine environment as a result of inhibited enzyme activities (important for maintaining physiological homeostasis in seawater), reduced growth, effects on migratory behaviour and impacts on predator avoidance (Finstad & Jonsson, 2001).


  • September 2012 
  • Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141(5)

  • Excerpt: " We implanted 26 salmon smolts with ultrasonic depth tags, .....During daylight in the bay, greater than 95% of the detections occurred in water depths of 5 m or less, but depths to 37 m were recorded. At night, 99% of the detections were in the top 5 m of the water column and maximum depth was 9 m."

    released earlier in the smolt ru
    Effects of Acid Water and Aluminum on Parr–Smolt Transformation and Seawater Tolerance in Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salarAbstract only  Magne Staurnes, , Per Blix, and , Ola B. Reite  11 April 2011.
    Abstr abt excerpt "Sensitivity to low pH or low pH/Al exposure greatly increased when fish had developed to seawater tolerant smolts."


    J Fish Biol. 2012 July A critical life stage of the Atlantic salmon Salmo salar: behaviour and survival during the smolt and initial post-smolt migration. Abstract only

    Excerpt "The an Salmo salar involves long migrations to novel environments and challenging physiological transformations when moving between salt-free and salt-rich water...Development of management actions to increase survival and fitness at the smolt and post-smolt stages is crucial to re-establish or conserve wild populations."

    Excerpt:  Adult return rates to the Imsa river were significantly reduced both in short-term (78% of controls) and long-term (55% of controls) acid/Al exposures, emphasising the physiological and ecological consequences of acid/Al exposure during smoltification.

    Excerpt: "Our results indicate that smolts are more sensitive than parr to short-term acid/Al. Increased sensitivity of smolts appears to be independent of a reduction in gill NKA activity and greater gill Al accumulation. Instead, increased sensitivity of smolts is likely a result of both the acquisition of seawater tolerance while still in freshwater and heightened stress responsiveness in preparation for seawater entry and residence."

    Excerpt "We propose that when smolts are exposed to acid and moderate to high Al concentrations, impaired seawater tolerance results from extensive gill Al accumulation, damage to the epithelium, reduced MRC and transport protein abundance, and a synergistic stimulation of apoptosis in the gill upon seawater exposure."

    OTHER
    Excerpt: Factors affecting mortality during the smolt and post-smolt stages contribute to determine the abundance of spawner returns. With many S. salar populations in decline, increased mortality at these stages may considerably contribute to limit S. salar production, and the consequences of human-induced mortality at this stage may be severe. Development of management actions to increase survival and fitness at the smolt and post-smolt stages is crucial to re-establish or conserve wild populations

    Excerpt how acidification of oceans, seas and rivers exacerbates the mobilization of metals into water bodies and how the acidic waters (low pH) have contributed to changing the metallic states into more lethal forms of metals - the metallic ions.

    GABAergic anxiolytic drug in water increases migration behaviour in salmon. Full
    Excerpt: Although migration dynamics are extensively studied, the potential effects of environmental contaminants on migratory physiology are poorly understood. In this study we show that an anxiolytic drug in water can promote downward migratory behaviour of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in both laboratory setting and in a natural river tributary.


    =======================================

    We're  interested in this research - could you provide the full-text for it?

    We have a problem site  near the mouth of a river  where a now demolished alum and superphosphate fertilizer production facility and the abandoned sulfuric acid plant that supplied  from the 1940s to the early 1970s has leached acidified dissolved aluminum  waste into the brackish water  for decades  We'd like to explore whether the frequent plumes of the waste , visible from the air, has been a player in reduced salmon smolt success. We want to learn more about the problem - your  Article will be very helpful we believe.  Ron Huber, , Friends of Penobscot Bay, a Waterkeeper affiliate



    Dec 9, 2018

    Rockland Harbor Management Plan Committee 12/6/18 AUDIO

    Listen  below to the December 6, 2018 meeting of the  Rockland Ad Hoc Harbor Management Plan Committee meeting with planning consultant Noel Musson in its quest to develop a new harbor plan for the city

    Part 1  30 minute introductions

    Part 2  30 min 
       
    Part 3  33min     

    Part 4 29 min    

    Part 5 29 min


    MORE TO COME. CHECK BACK LATER

    Dec 5, 2018

    Nordic Aqua Farms proposed pipeline routes into Belfast Bay

    Links below  take you to map by Nordic Aqua Farms  (NAF) consultant Woodard and Curran  showing the proposed location of  NAF's two outfallpipes and one intake pipe in  Belfast Bay.

    Nordic proposed pipelines, Full route. 

    Nordic proposed pipelines. Inshore half

    Nordic proposed pipelines. Offshore half.

    Dec 4, 2018

    Penobscot Polluters: Licensed dischargers into Penobscot bay

    Wastewater Treatment Plants of Penobscot Bay 
    Below are links to quarterly Discharge Monitoring Reports  (DMRs) of waste water treatment plants   around Penobscot Bay as posted by USEPA:  Below are DMRs for  Searsport Belfast  Lincolnville, Camden Rockland, Owls Head, Deer Isle. More to come!


    Searsport
    GAC Chemical 
    Air Pollutant Report 
    CWA Pollutant Loading Report 
    CWA Effluent Chart 
    EPA Facility Documents 
    CWA Effluent Limit Exceedances Report   Report 2
    Enforcement case reports
    View Envirofacts Reports

    Searsport Wastewater Treatment Facility
    CWA Pollutant Loading Report 
    CWA Effluent Charts 
    CWA Effluent Limit Exceedances Report 
    Envirofacts Reports

    Irving Oil Terminals 

    CWA Pollutant Loading Report 


    Belfast Wastewater Treatment Facility


    Lincolnville

    Camden