Regional roundup | Washington County gets a boost from grants, private investment, and, of all places, Turkey
News from Washington County has been plentiful in the past few months as energy projects progress and new natural resources-based businesses flesh out their plans. Here’s an update:
DOWNEAST LNG
Dean Girdis, CEO of Downeast LNG, expects to hear early next year from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on his permit to proceed with his $400 million LNG terminal in Robbinston. Assuming it’s good news, he intends to file for state permits soon thereafter, he tells Mainebiz. In the interim, he has taken potential Asian investors to view the site of his proposed terminal, now in its fifth year of development. Girdis has also been in negotiations with a supplier interested in investing in the project. One thing he’s not spending much energy on: worrying about the Canadian government’s opposition to American LNG terminals in Passamaquoddy Bay.
“That’s all political strategy,” says Girdis. “My own team of Canadian lawyers and their own government agencies and their own studies show there’s no major impact associated with LNG. I’m not worried at all.”
A competing LNG project, Calais LNG, has postponed regulatory hearings until December to allow it more time to line up financing after investor GS Power Holdings LLC withdrew from the project in July.
BLUEBERRY PROCESSING PLANT
Melissa Lee, regional steward to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust in Milbridge, says an effort to create a blueberry processing plant in Trescott is in the midst of a feasibility study that should be complete by March. The Blueberry East Food Venture, supported by a coalition of MCHT, the Down East Business Alliance, Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association and others, is intended to explore new markets for blueberry growers and new uses among food manufacturers. Surveys to consumers and producers have gone out, a consultant has been hired and work has begun on a business model with the culinary arts program of Washington County Community College, another partner in the project.
The impetus for the project started two years ago when MCHT acquired a parcel of land that includes 88 acres of commercial blueberry barrens. The Blueberry East Food Venture won grants from Maine Technology Institute and the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation to get the ball rolling. “We’re exploring more commercial markets,” says Lee, “like whether restaurants would buy organic blueberry puree to use in cooking, rather than [buying only] juice for drinking.”
To support the venture, culinary arts students at WCCC are undertaking product development projects specific to blueberries. A taste testing of the students’ work is set for December.
EASTPORT PORT’S AGRICULTURAL LICENSE
Another load of dairy cows is on its way to Turkey, shipped through the port of Eastport, which received a temporary license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in July to ship livestock. The livestock license opened the door to the first load of nearly 500 cows to head to the Near East country, followed by a second load at the end of September, according to Maine Department of Agriculture Commissioner Seth Bradstreet.
The cows are prized for their genetic qualities, according to dairy farmer Jay Roebuck, who quarantines and inspects the cattle before they’re shipped to Turkey. The country wants to buy 6,000-7,000 head to improve their domestic milk production, and many American dairy farmers are willing to sell their animals because prices for milk have remained low. Federal law requires any cow shipped overseas to depart from a state without blue tongue disease. Maine is free of the disease and has the coveted livestock license at both the Eastport and Portland ports.
“We’ve gotten inquiries about sheep as well,” says Bradstreet, specific to commodities groups looking at trade shows in Saudi Arabia. “We also think this could open the door for us to ship crop products, smaller orders for specialized products such as maple syrup or jam and jelly, to new markets. It represents a great opportunity for us.”
The port got more good news recently when the newly established Northern Border Regional Commission awarded it $250,000 to help pay for the installation of a new bulk conveyor system. The system will fully automate the port, increasing its capacity to import and export goods, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud.
OCEAN RENEWABLE POWER CO. TURBINE
ORPC’s tidal turbine in Cobscook Bay started generating commercial-grade electricity in August. More good news is on the horizon for the Portland-based power company as it stands ready to receive $10 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants to commercialize its tidal generating system, which has been in tests since February. ORPC also received news that a $1.4 million grant was approved to rehab the Eastport Business Center into a marine energy center to manufacture components for tidal energy systems. The marine center is expected to employ 75 and leverage $23 million in private investment.
CEO Chris Sauer is happy to share aspects of the innovative technology. He will be leading a group of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, FERC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other agencies to observe ORPC’s environmental monitoring system early this month.
“There will be 40 or 50 people in Eastport for this tour,” he says. “It’s pioneering equipment and a pretty big deal.”
Carol Coultas
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments