Bay History: 2001-2005 Environmental Conflicts & Initiatives.

The below archived Penobscot Bay Watch media releases  discuss relevant local/state/federal events & issues  as they rose and fell during Governor King's 2nd term and Governor Baldacci's 1st term .  2/2/01 - to 2/7/205  Topics  Knox county airport expansion, state rockweed conservation, Samoset marina sprawl, local landfills, out of state waste imports, dredge spoils, state trawl survey &, shedder lobster impacts,  salmon fishpens,  state aquaculture task force, shellfish farming, a Sears Island LNG terminal plan - and more!

NOTE some  internal links are outdated

2001

2/2/01  State delays decision on  Owl's Head airport expansion to  April. (jetification)

3/1/01  Lobstermen residents battle Samoset Resort over harbor fishing grounds  marina sprawl. Samoset

3/5/01  Picketers protest resort's controversial plan to build a yacht marina in Rockland Harbor's best lobstering area , Samoset

3/16/01  Did MBNA dump contaminated dredge spoils into Rockland's municipal landfill 

3/26/01 Rockland City Council rejects Samoset marina plan  

4/4/01  Federal agency rejects Samoset marina plan; orders eelgrass study of Rockland Harbor

6/6/01   Beach grasses shielding the sand dunes at Pemaquid Beach Park may finally gain additional protection

7/26/01 * US Fish and Wildlife Service bans the harvest of seaweeds at three National Wildlife Refuges on the Maine coast  

8/21/01 * Fishermen, islanders, conservationists fight fishpen sprawl: Penobscot Bay lobsters, wild salmon said at risk 

10/01/01  * Maine DMR Commissioner restricts state research videotapes, bans videotaping of future state trawl survey catches 

10/4/01  * Conservation Law group sues General Alum & Chemical Corp for polluting Penobscot Bay

10/21/01 * Fisheries panelists call for revamped fishing & aquaculture laws

11/8/01* 25 lobster boats out of Corea confront the Department of Marine Resources' survey trawler

11/22/01  Mainers criticize Snowe support of federal plan to bail out foreign fishpen companies

2002  

1/31/02 Aquaculture meeting raises Maine "open meeting law" concerns

2/4/02  Marine ecology chief and former Maine aquaculture official raise many eyebrows re  their handling of the trawl survey,  and aquaculture improprieties

2/8/02 Atlantic Salmon Federation calls for fishpen-free Penobscot Bay

2/11/02 Hearing on aquaculture reform brings together different points of view 

2/13/02 Legislators press fishpen industry for details on pesticide use

2/18/02 Commercial fishing industry, conservationists, tourism industry representatives call for fishpen moratorium 

2/19/02 Maine legislature to consider aquaculture moratorium 

2/22/02 DMR ordered to release files on aquaculture violations to Legislature 

2/25/02 Maine aquaculture reform bill attacked by DMR, aquaculture industry

2/26/02 Voices in the Maine aquaculture reform debate 

2/27/02 Legislature's Marine Resources Committee gives coastal towns power to regulate aquaculture 

3/2/02 DMR threatens to shut down lobstering if April trawl survey is resisted 

3/5/02 Fishermen sign petition to the Maine legislature calling for local control of aquaculture 

3/8/02 Marine trades, building industries in Knox, Waldo and Hancock county say fishpens harm business (Penobscot Bay Watch, 3/8/02)

3/30/02 Fishy Business: Aquaculture Reform Flames out in Maine

2003

4/7/03  Northport, Maine Speaks Out on Maine Aquaculture Bills 

4/10/03 Maine legislators hear pros and cons of aquaculture reform 

4/25/03 Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Aquaculture Task Force gets thumbs up

7/14/03  Rockland may accept construction waste from out of state for disposal in its quarry dump  

7/24/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force Gets Underway

8/7/03  Continued Marine Bioinvasions prompt tough new federal rules

8/15/03  Criticism has arisen concerning Governor John Baldacci's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Marine Aquaculture

8/19/03  Maine Aquaculture Task Force hires Canadian consultants for fish farm economics study.

9/11/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force holds second meeting at the University of Maine's Darling Center

9/25/03 Aquaculture Task Force to hear from public & NGOs on fishfarms' impacts on property and scenic values

10/14/03  Aquaculture Task Force to explore coastal towns' role in decisionmaking 

10/17/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force opts for baywide management study 

10/28/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force Online Audio from the October 16 meeting in Rockland, Maine 

11/18/03  Criticism concerning aquaculture report submitted by a former DMR commissioner.

12/19/03 Maine Aquaculture Task Force report to call for smaller municipal role, bigger fishfarms, more studies

2004

1/9/04 Study on carcinogens in farmed Atlantic salmon available online 

1/28/04  Final Draft Report: Governor's Task Force on the Planning and Development of Marine Aquaculture.

2/9/04 Maine legislators to get presentation from Governor's Task Force on Aquaculture

2/18/04Maine legislators to hear from public on major aquaculture bill .

2/23/04 Legislators urged: drop acreage boost from aquaculture bill.

3/1/04 Opponents of Northport mussel farm expansion call it threat to navigation 

3/12/04 LNG tankers could force 15% drop in Penobscot Bay lobsterfishing 

4/20/04 Searsport residents warned by Harpswell lobstermen: Don't trust LNG corporations 

5/5/04  Federal Wilderness Proposed for 13 Islands off the Maine Coast 

7/28/04 Controversial decision by organizers of a statewide forum on LNG to block a Harpswell fishermen's organization 

8/24/04  Fishermen speak out against wasteful pair trawl herring fishery off Maine 

8/31/04  Released documents show politics behind Baldacci Sears Island LNG policies

2005 

2/7/05  Beginning of Maine's coastwide Bay Management Project 

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Casella Waste calls Penobscot Nation "activist group". Says landfill's leachate treated enuf before pumped into Penobscot River

 As printed in the Bangor Daily News  11/22/2020

Landfill and leachate 

By Toni M. King, Casella Waste Systems

 An activist group is claiming that leachate from the state-owned landfill in Old Town is discharged — untreated — into the Penobscot River. This is absolutely false.

 “Leachate” is liquid that passes through solid waste in a landfill. Liquid in waste and rainwater that passes through waste is captured within the landfill, conveyed to a secure tank and transported offsite to a treatment plant. 

 The state-owned landfill is highly engineered with double liners, leak detection systems and a sophisticated liquid conveyance system. It contracts with the Old Town mill for treatment and disposal of its leachate, as required by law. 

 The Department of Environmental Protection carefully regulates every step in this process. It limits concentrations in discharges and requires monitoring for a range of parameters. The state-owned landfill and the Old Town Mill are fully compliant with these requirements. 

 The DEP recently reviewed the landfill’s operations relative to future leachate disposal. It concluded that all applicable licensing criteria for proposed waste discharge were met and the discharge won’t lower the quality of the Penobscot River. 

 There are five licensed wastewater treatment plants north of Old Town discharging to the Penobscot River. There are 11 more discharging further downstream. The amount attributable to the state-owned landfill – all of it treated – is 1/100,000th of the total. 

Wastewater and leachate are collected and treated to ensure the safety of our environment. Disposal from the state-owned landfill is compliant with state law, and a miniscule portion of the overall discharges permitted to the river. 

 Toni M. King 

 Region Engineer 

 Casella Waste Systems

Maine BEP hears from landfill reform advocates and anti-reform advocates

 On September 17, 2020, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection held its hearing on NGO Don’t Waste Maine’s petition to end importation of construction & demolition waste from other states.

Listen below to links to the speakers at the hearing – both those who testified and those who listened and asked questions

The meeting started at 10am, with the Board first reviewed a number of other agenda item including hazardous waste storage at the Portsmouth Naval shipyard,  Nordic Aquafarms,  land based salmon facility application and more.

Speakers at 9/17/20 Maine BEP hearing on citizen initiated rule changes to DEP Rules Chapter 400.  Link to written testimony sent to BEP

BEP meeting’s other issues before CH400 hearing 47min

0 CH 400 Opening introduction 8min15sec

1.Hillary Lister, Don’t Waste Me + Q&A 19min  

2. Ed Spencer, Don’t Waste Me 22min33sec

3. Paula Clark, Maine DEP 13min 4sec

4 Brian Rayback, Pierce Atwood 7min44sec

5 Bill Lippincott 9min20sec

6.Dana Colihan_5min7sec

7 Greg Leahy Reenergy Lewiston13min35sec

8 Rhonda Forester , Sevee and Mahan 9min25sec

9 Kat Taylor 6min31sec

END OF MORNING SESSION

START AFTERNOON SESSION

10 Intro 43seconds

11 Charles Eaton Me Logistics Solutions trucking) 2min 5sec

12 Sarah Nichols NRCM & QA 10min 33sec

13 Kirstie_Pecci CLF & QA 15min

14 Peter Crockett DWM 7min11sec

15 Barry Staples 3min 44sec

16 Abigail Bradford 3min55sec

17 Mark St Germaine & QA 10min2sec

18 TJ Troiano waste trucking 9min5sec

19 Antonio Blasi Hancock Cty Commissioner 44sec

20 Ben Worcester SW Harbor 4min 4sec to hearing end

Don't Waste Maine! Official documents to date

Documents Archive for Don't Waste Maine's requested changes to Maine's solid waste rules.

Contents: 
* DWM's petition as received by BEP
* BEP Posting memo
* BEP's 2 page factsheet on the petition
* Chapter 400 Solid Waste Rules (96 pgs)  DWM's proposed 3 changes highlighted in yellow on Pg 6 & Pg 21.

Don't Waste Maine's petition as received 1/13/20 by Maine DEP showing the proposed additions and deletions to the existing rule.

BEP Posting Memo March 5, 2020  1 page summary of the accepting of the petition

Excerpt "....The petition was submitted by Hillary Lister of Maine Matters and included the certified signatures of 257 registered voters. ..."

DEP's 2 page Fact Sheet on the petition  Summarizes the changes that Don't Waste Maine is requesting .  Key excerpts: "On January 13, 2020, the Department received a citizen petition to initiate rulemaking to amend the Chapter 400: Maine Solid Waste Management Rules... ensuring that the definition of ‘‘waste that is generated within the State’’ accurately describes the sources of waste materials disposed in the State, and by requiring ... consideration of the impacts on health and welfare, environmental justice and equal protections for communities where waste facilities operate.’’ The Department is posting the proposed changes to public hearing pursuant to 5 M.R.S. § 8055" 

Chapter 400 Rules (96 pages)  with Don't Waste Maine's proposed three changes (below)  highlighted in yellow on Page 6 and Page 21.

From Pg 6 of the document 

TT-1. Equal Protection. “Equal Protection” means protection of all groups of people, regardless of ancestry, class, disability, ethnicity, income, national origin, or religion, from an unfair burden of environmental hazards resulting from waste facility operations. 

TT-2. Environmental Justice. “Environmental Justice” means the right to be protected from environmental pollution and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment regardless of ancestry, class, disability, ethnicity, income, national origin, or religion. Environmental justice shall include the equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of waste management laws, regulations, and licensing decisions.

From Page 21 of the document 

HHhh-1. Waste that is generated within the State. “Waste that is generated within the State” means waste materials for which the original point of discard is located within the State of Maine. “Waste that is generated within the State” includes residue and bypass generated by incineration, processing and recycling facilities within the State, only if the materials creating the residue and bypass had an original point of discard within the State of Maine

Maine Community Rights Network AUDIO 2019

Army Corps of Engineers public hearing on NECEC 3min20sec

Climate emergency Declaration Resolution 3min 49sec

Forest Ecology network on Corridor  2min

Getting on the town council agenda 3min

DIscussion on landfill petition 9min

MCRN discussion of Eminent Domain 3min

MCRN on proper public notification 8min