Political pressure on DEP twisted Nordic’s permit process
Documents delivered to the Friends of Harriet L. Hartley (HLH) last month show DEP officials were pressured to drop a January 2019 demand that Nordic Aquafarms (NAF) submit more proof of the company’s right to lay pipelines through a disputed intertidal zone. A key player in the campaign was Peter Mills, Esq., brother of Gov. Janet Mills. Attorney Mills, along with Maine & Co. CEO Peter DelGreco warned the Governor that Nordic’s project was in jeopardy and a January 22, 2019 demand from Maine DEP for solid proof of the company’s “right, title, or interest” (TRI) in the intertidal area needed to go away.
Eight days later, on January 30, the fix was in. DEP retracted its demand; sent Nordic’s permits to the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP); and never raised the TRI issue again.
What happened between January 22 and January 30?
Documents in the February 2021 FOAA deliveries to DEP Intervenor Lawrence Reichard provide answers. The chronology of events revealed by those documents strongly suggests that a behind-the-scenes campaign to quash the DEP Jan. 22nd demand resulted in the Jan. 30th decision to do just that.
Tuesday, Jan. 22. Acting DEP Co-Director Brian Kavanaugh writes NAF’s attorney that Nordic’s alleged proof of TRI is insufficient and its route for the pipelines questionable. Kavanaugh explains DEP’s needs clearly: “…in light of received evidence that the Department has determined to be credible, the Department is requesting further information regarding: 1) the location of the structures associated with the Nordic Aquafarms MEPDES applications, including all portions of the outfall pipe from the proposed facility; and 2) the applicant’s title, right or interest (TRI) in the area proposed to be developed or used.” Provide the information, Kavanaugh says, “…as soon as possible…” but no later than Feb. 6, 2019.
Thursday, Jan. 24; 11:00 p.m. Peter DelGreco, President and CEO of Maine & Co., emails Gov. Mills and her chief of staff, Jeremy Kennedy about the Jan. 22 DEP letter. “DEP recently sent a letter that has made the parties incredibly anxious. Truthfully, we are not sure if the concern is coming from the AG’s Office or DEP.” DelGreco mentions his road trip with a Dutch company also interested in an RAS fish-raising plant and warns the Governor: “I am nervous when someone like Kim Tucker can use delay tactics in hopes of trying to frighten a good project away. I am excited to help and hope that I am not overstepping my bounds.”
Friday, Jan. 25; 7:41 a.m. Attorney Peter Mills emails Gov. Mills (at her personal address), Jeremy Kennedy, and copies Scott Ogden (Gov. Mills’ communications director), Jerry Reid (Asst. Attorney General, Natural Resources Division and Gov. Mills’ pick for DEP Commissioner), and Heather Johnson (Commissioner, Dept. of Economic Development). His message? Nordic investors will pull out because of opposition mounted by HLH attorney Kim Tucker. The “…final precipitating event…” Mills warns, may be DEP’s Jan. 22 letter. “[T]he public fallout will be disastrous for the burgeoning industry…” Peter writes, ending with: “After Wednesday’s DEP letter, reassurances may not suffice.”
Friday, Jan. 25, 9:51 am. Jerry Reid emails the Governor, Peter Mills, Jeremy Kennedy, Scott Ogden, and Heather Johnson saying he will meet with Nordic CEO Erik Heim that afternoon. His intent? Reassure Heim “…that the DEP process will be fair and can work.” Reid also wants to discuss the “…non-trivial title, right and interest problem…” with Nordic’s application. “I’ll be talking to him about that too. It’s not in Nordic’s interest to move forward with a flawed application that will allow for a successful appeal of the permits they are seeking.” [Emphasis added.]
Friday, Jan. 25, 10:04 a.m. Gov. Mill sends a quick “Got it” back to her brother and the others on his mail.
Friday, Jan. 25; 2:00 p.m. Reid and Acting DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim meet with Erik Heim and possibly other NAF agents.
Wednesday, Jan. 30. Melanie Loyzim writes Nordic’s attorney that DEP is suspending further action on NAF’s permit and rescinding the Jan. 22 request for additional proof of TRI. “While the pending MEPDES permit application remains on hold with the Department awaiting NAF forthcoming Site Law and NRPA applications, NAF is also not required to separately submit the information requested by the Department in its January 22, 2019 letter.”
This pattern of covert support for NAF’s permits prompted attorneys for HLH and the other petitioners in the Waldo County Superior Court case against Nordic to file a new motion earlier today. [Copy attached.] In it, attorney Kim Ervin Tucker asks the Court to re-open the discovery process. “Petitioners assert that documents within the Reichard FOAA Response indicate that officials at the highest levels of the Mills’ Administration, including Gov. Mills, have indulged solicitations from well-connected lobbyists, powerbrokers, and influence peddlers – including the Governor’s brother Peter Mills – to put a thumb on the scale of the NAF permitting process…”
“Because the documents that DEP previously withheld from Petitioners’ indicated the existence of improper motivations underlying actions by officials…” Tucker argues, re-opening the discovery process is justified. NAF opponents had no knowledge that Governor Janet Mills’ brother, Peter Mills, Esq., or Peter DelGreco and the Maine & Co., were surreptitiously involved in promoting the NAF project and challenging decisions made by career DEP professional staff relating to NAF’s lack of TRI as well as other issues.
“Discovery is needed,” Tucker says, “to determine the extent to which this influence by Reid and Loyzim constrained the information considered by the BEP and tainted the BEP adjudicatory proceedings.” “In particular,” she points out, “discovery is needed to determine the extent to which political pressure influenced the DEP and BEP determinations that NAF had demonstrated ‘sufficient’ TRI…”