The Belfast City Council is asking a state board to get on with its review of a land-based salmon farm proposal by videoconference, rather than wait until it can meet in person.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Board of Environmental Protection was tentatively scheduled to hold its final deliberations and issue findings May 7 on an application by Nordic Aquafarms to develop a land-based salmon aquaculture facility. It would be sited on a 56-acre parcel along the northwesterly side of U.S. Route 1, near the lower reservoir of the Little River.
But at its April 21 meeting, held by videoconference, the council learned that the board was considering waiting until it could meet in person.
Council members said they were concerned about a delay in the board’s deliberations because the pandemic made it impossible to predict when the board might be able to safely convene. Nordic’s application has been winding its way through the permit process for over two years.
The council agreed to send a letter to the board that expresses the city’s gratitude for the board’s help in reviewing the application, and indicates that the board’s input is essential to city planning board’s upcoming review of the application. The letter was also to ask the board to release its findings as originally scheduled on May 7.
“They have a lot of technical expertise that we don’t have,” Councilor Mike Hurley said. “We’ll either rely on their expertise or we‘ve got to hire experts.”
“We have seen delay after delay after delay,” said Councilor Neal Harkness. “We’re hoping to see this move forward. We’re going to be coming out of this virus situation in a depression in this country. The possibility that we could get economic development moving sooner rather than later — that’s imperative.”
“Two-and-a-half years is enough time for many things — that includes a proposed fish farm,” said Mayor Eric Sanders. The operation, he added, could be an “economic lever that would help the city of Belfast, now and in the next 10, 20, 30 years.”
The city planning board’s review of Nordic’s application will resume in May, Wayne Marshall, director of code and planning, told the council. He noted that the Board of Environmental Protection’s input would be useful for the planning board as it considers topics related to the application such as natural resource protection, wetland impact and discharge into the bay.
After hearings held in March, the Maine Department of Marine Resources determined that dredging and construction of intake and discharge pipes, related to Nordic’s project, were feasible from the standpoint of fishing operations, contingent on certain recommendations to minimize impacts.
The department sent its comments in a memorandum dated April 7 to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Land and Water Quality Control.
The department said that local fishermen and a shellfish aquaculture operator were concerned about potential impacts pertaining to construction activities and the haul route of the dredging barge, about discharge from the pipes, and about potential reduction in landings due to physical and biochemical changes of the marine environment.
The department recommended the use of a closed bucket dredge and turbidity curtains around the barge and excavation site. It encouraged marking the location of the pipelines for navigational safety. And it asked Nordic to have its construction contractor communicate its construction plans with the department and with the local lobster zone council.
In a decision dated April 3, the Board of Environmental Protection denied a request by opponents of the project to reopen the proceedings or dismiss Nordic’s application.
The permitting process has affected Nordic’s original timeline. In 2018, Nordic projected that, pending approvals, initial construction could begin in the summer of 2019.
Nordic proposes to develop the project in two phases over five or more years. Total production capacity at build-out is estimated to be 72.7 million pounds of salmon per year.
