SEARSPORT, Maine — The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) held an open house in Searsport to present three potential location sites for its new $500 million wind port facility project on Wednesday.
MaineDOT said planning teams are considering placing the facility in one of three central locations: on Sears Island, on Mack Point Peninsula, or in a hybrid location.
MaineDOT Director of Communications Paul Merrill said the wind port will provide clean and reliable energy, but detailed plans for the development are not set in stone.
"The big downsides of Mack Point are the cost of leasing land that we don’t own. And the cost financially and environmentally of doing dredging to accommodate the facility," Merrill said. "Sears Island—the state owns the land, and it would be no dredging. But, of course, there are voices in the discussion that don’t want us to develop the land that we own there."
Merrill said the project calls for 100 acres total. It would be built on top of roughly 60 to 70 acres of land and 30 to 40 acres of the facility would be built over water.
Sears Island stretches for more than 900 acres of land. Approximately 601 acres, or two-thirds of land on the island, are preserved for biodiversity, coastal wetlands, and forestry. The Sears Island agreement makes those two-thirds of the land untouchable.
If the project is built on Sears Island, Merrill said it would be constructed on the remaining one-third of the land that can be used for environmental development. Part of Sears Island is already dredged and prepared for construction.
"From Sears Island, we have flat land adjacent to deep water," Merrill said. "We know exactly what we'd be building it for. Wind turbans for commercial development and for Gulf of Maine research that the governor's office and the university have been working on. So, it's basically built to suit, which is a great scenario to be in."
If the project is built on Mack Point Peninsula, MaineDOT would have to lease land for the project from Sprague Energy, who owns the land, Merrill said.
He said planning teams are analyzing all potential options, working to finalize a plan that has the least negative impact on the environment while also being cost-effective.
Merrill said MaineDOT is prioritizing public opinion in their decision-making process.
"Public opinion plays a big role in everything that we do," Merrill said. "We don't want to do something that the majority of the public is against."
"Build on Mack Point": Here's why some people support building on Mack Point
Some Searsport community members like Becky Bartovics said they're completely against placing the wind port on Sears Island.
"I am a YIMBY—'yes in my backyard,' not on Sears Island," Bartovics said.
Bartovics is a member of the Sierra Club, which focuses on preserving biodiversity, wildlife, and forestry. She said building the facility on Sears Island would be a complete destruction of 100 acres of wetlands and forestry.
Bartovics said she foresees that the project will affect far more than just the 100 acres of land and water space MaineDOT estimates that developers would need to build a facility of its projected size.
"It's going to impact any species—any of the species on that land, because of the noise because of the light—because of trucks that are going to be moving by," Bartovics said. "Not only that, you're going to be eliminating a whole group of wetlands that drain into the Searsport harbor."
Bartovics said Sears Island is a migratory stopping place for birds. She also said that if the project is built on Sears Island, she believes it will negatively affect fish.
Member of the executive committee for the Alliance for Sears Island Scott Dickerson said he agrees with Bartovics. Dickerson said Mack Point is already an industrialized area, and he said he sees no valid reason to disrupt wildlife on the island.
"The whole island will be impacted," Dickerson said. "It's also important to realize that this facility is going to be larger than Bath Iron Works in every scale. Taller, larger, more acreage. It's just going to be a very immense facility."
"Let's not forget": Here's why some people support building on Sears Island
Others like Penobscot Bay harbor docking pilot David Gelinas said he begs to differ, stating that Sears Point is a perfect location for the wind port.
"Quite frankly, Mack Point is not that much further over to the west," Gelinas said. "So, if there’s a problem with noise or lighting from the port facility, it's going to be in that general area."
Gelinas said he's both confused and surprised that environmental conservationist groups like the Sierra Club are fighting against developing the project on Sears Island.
Gelinas said the Sierra Club and other groups have heavily fought against dredging in the past, and development on Mack Point would require large dredging projects.
"Let's not forget over 25 years ago, Sears Island was dredged. There's a 42-foot dredged birth that was already bought and paid for by Maine taxpayers," Gelinas said. "There's going to be a need for dredging at Mack Point, whether it's 25,000 yards, 250,000 yards or 500,000 yards—the latter of which the [MaineDOT] is projecting. All that spoil dredging—all those dredge spoils are going to have to be dumped somewhere, and it's going to out in Penobscot Bay."
He said in previous years, conservationist groups argued "any dredging was going to lead to an economic disaster at Penobscot Bay."
According to Gelinas, one-third of the land on Sears Island was set aside for environmental development years ago in the previous Sears Island agreement.
"Two-thirds of Sears Island is permanently protected, and in exchange for that permanent protection, they set aside the west portion of Sears Island in the transportation parcel," Gelinas said. "So that portion has already been designated years ago with the approval and understanding from the environmental community that that would be a future site for environmental development."
Gelinas said he feels conservationist groups that are fighting the idea of creating the wind port on Sears Island are reneging on a concept that was already understood.
"There's so many TBDs": Here's why some community members are in limbo
Some community members say it's not the location that concerns them most, but instead, the lack of details and concrete information that explain how such a large-scale project like this one will work.
"Where’s the power going to go once it hits land? Is there going to be a new corridor?" community member John Krueger said. "Which city in Maine is going to have this huge amount of power to distribute?"
Krueger said there's no way to tell how successful the wind port will be.
"Sometimes there isn't the desire that it works," Krueger said.
When it comes to how the project will be funded, how much it would cost to lease land from Sprague if the facility is built on Mack Point Peninsula, and other clarifying details, Merrill from MaineDOT said they don't have all the answers.
"I'm anxious to do it, but I don't want to be so anxious that we gamble away Sears Island on a hope and a prayer," Krueger said.
Leasing land from Sprague Energy company for the Mack Point construction proposal
Vice President of materials and handling for Sprague Energy Jim Therriault said if the project is built at Mack Point Peninsula, MaineDOT would have to lease the land portion that the facility would be built on from Sprague.
Therriault said Sprague estimates that it would have to spend an estimated $30 million to repurpose the area, making room for the construction of the wind port at the site.
MaineDOT said to prepare the land owned by Sprague, one liquid pier would have to be relocated and combined with a dry pier. MaineDOT said in addition to the dredging, the area would have to be rearranged before any construction could be done.
The pre-work needed could delay the overall completion of the facility, MaineDOT said, possibly preventing the construction of the project from being finalized before the state's year 2040 project completion goal.
Therriault said Sprague submitted a fourth plan that could potentially reduce the amount of land that would have to be dredged for construction. He said MaineDOT has the plan, but it's waiting for review.
Ideas on how to fund the project
Searsport town manager James Gillway said the project won't cost Searsport taxpayers anything.
"Whenever you add infrastructure, you're going to add a tax dollar. So, this will be a net gain for the town of Searsport as far as what we bring in for taxes," Gillway said. "We have no financial obligation to add to the project."
Gillway and MaineDOT said the project will most likely be funded by federal and state money, but those funds have not been officially appropriated.
Lasting remarks
Bartovics said she wants MaineDOT to think about the potential effects the project can have.
"You cannot replace coastal wetlands. It’s not been done—you cannot effectively replace them," Bartovics said. "So, since we’re losing coastal wetlands at 10 percent a year up and down the coast, it's essential for them to think about what we’re losing."
MaineDOT said it has no concerns that developers will run into roadblocks if it decides to build on Mack Point Peninsula, but Merrill said getting the ball rolling on the Mack Point proposal would be expensive.