Maine Department of Environmental Protection To Hold Public Hearing Next Week In Lee On Proposed Bowers Wind Project
April 22, 2013
Contact: Samantha Warren, Maine DEP Director of Communications, (207) 287-5842
-The applicant and prequalified intervenors will present testimony at two-day public hearing with public comment sessions both evenings-
LEE ? The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will hold a two-day public hearing in Lee next week on a proposal from Champlain Wind, LLC ? a subsidiary of First Wind ? to build a 16-turbine, 48-megawatt wind farm atop Bowers Mountain in Carroll Plantation and Dill Hill in Kossuth Township. The hearing on Tuesday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 1 at Lee Academy will allow the applicant and four intervenors to present evidence and cross-examine other parties about the application filed with DEP last October.
Those intervenors include the Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed and Registered Maine Master Guide David Corrigan, who oppose the project, and the Conservation Law Foundation and the Maine Renewable Energy Association, who support it.
While only the applicant and prequalified intervenors can participate in the daytime hearing sessions, which begin each day at 9 a.m. and are open to the public, DEP will host open public comment sessions both nights beginning at 6 p.m. to allow the public to speak on the proposal.
DEP Commissioner Patricia W. Aho honored the multiple requests she received for a public hearing on the proposal, saying it would be fair to all parties involved and helpful to her agency?s decision-making process.
Commissioner Aho also noted that the former Land Use Regulation Commission, which had previously reviewed and ultimately rejected a proposed project on Bowers Mountain, required public hearings for these types of projects so the process is familiar to the applicant and the public. Written comments about the application are also being accepted and should be sent to Jessica Damon, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor, ME 04401 or bowerswindproject.DEP@maine.gov.
More information about the proposed Bowers Wind Project, including the application under DEP review, public comments received thus far and pre-hearing testimony submitted by intervenors, is available by visiting http://www.maine.gov/dep/land and choosing ?Selected Site Law Developments.?
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