President’s Report: Yes, We Won, But!

The Nordic Aquafarms Fish Facility Will Not Be Built in Belfast

Still, as it has been said that Yogi Berra once said,

“It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.’

Six years ago, when it became evident that the Nordic Aquafarms, Inc. project would be an environmental, ecologic and economic disaster for the Belfast/Northport area, it became our goal to prevent its construction.  

This evening, with confidence we can say that we have met that goal.  We have won!  Nordic will not be constructing its proposed fish production facility at the Little River.

Six years of discovery, dedication and determination, countless paid and unpaid hours of work by laypersons and experts with the support and contributions of hundreds of citizens.  We have beaten a multimillion-dollar foreign corporation, aided and abetted by the highest levels of our State government and its regulatory agencies, the City, and a multitude of highly paid attorneys and consultants.  Congratulations on what we have achieved.

Along the way, Nordic and its enablers caused real harm, civic, psychological, physical and economic for which redress is due.  Moreover, even as it departs, Nordic has assets it could use to leave even more damage in its wake.

Let us look back: in the beginning, some of us did think the Nordic project as presented was of interest and worth looking at.  So, we did, and what we discovered was every promise of economic benefit and environmental protection was false and/or deceitful.

The first awareness arose when, for Nordic’s benefit, the City pushed through a zoning ordinance change from residential to industrial.  Ellie Daniels sounded the alarm, and with Local Citizens for Smart Growth, she called the City to task.  Not having the necessary legal counsel, however, her challenge failed in court.

By then, aware of the environmental risks, Upstream Watch under the direction of Amy Grant and David Losee began to assemble the arguments and expert witnesses to rebuff Nordic’s claims, testifying at Maine’s environmental protection agency hearings.  David accurately predicted these hearings would not be on a “level playing field”.  He was correct.  We were beginning to learn just how heavy the hand of the State and City government was on the scale.

Their intertidal property threatened, Jeffrey Mabee and Judith Grace protected it as a Conservation Area.  Bob and Paul Bernacki provided the genealogy and chain of deeds and Don Richards memorialized those findings on the definitive survey vital to Jeffrey and Judith’s claim of ownership, ownership eventually confirmed by the Maine Law Court (aka Supreme Judicial Court).

When it became clear to some of us, like Andy, Janie and Kim, that the valid environmental arguments would fail, we decided to focus our efforts at legally preserving the private ownership of the intertidal property.  Because Upstream Watch did not want to fund this approach, we separated from that organization, gained control of the Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area, formed the Friends and raised the necessary funds and expertise to succeed.  

Under the unflagging devoted legal leadership of Kim Tucker, we defeated Nordic. In my opinion, Kim is a national treasure.  If there ever is a movie made, she will win the Oscar.  

Those who I have mentioned by name are those who have led the way, but equally necessary have been you who have donated so much of your time and the many contributors who have kept us from being bullied or bankrupted as so commonly occurs in situations like these.  

Again, and now with confidence, we can say we have achieved our initial primary goal: Nordic itself will not build anything around here.  

Where does that leave us today?  On the one hand, Nordic still owns the former Belfast Water District land; it has put that land up for sale, and it could sell that property to an equally nefarious buyer or worse.  Although Nordic will be gone, the land is not yet saved, and the harm already imposed not yet undone.  On the other hand, we have lawsuits pending; we have an opportunity.  

The lawsuits are now under the jurisdiction of the Business and Consumer Docket (or BCD court).  The BCD has mandated an attempt at mediation between Nordic, the City of Belfast and Upstream Watch, and with Jeffrey and Judith and the Friends.  

We have to understand the nature of mediation.  As a matter of personal experience, I have some understanding.  A decade ago I bought a piece of property a year before its owner died, and a nephew who thought he should have inherited it, sued me for $200,000, claiming my friendship with the owner had unduly influenced the sale.  It was a nuisance suit without merit, and it went to mediation. In the end, to avoid the expected extraordinary legal costs, not to mention the aggravation and time of going to court (even though I was assured of winning the case), it was more advantageous for me to give this person $30,000 to go away.  

You see what I am getting at for the Friends: If there is not a satisfactory mediated agreement, we face more years of expensive litigation and even the possibility of losing everything.  I for one prefer we end this sooner rather than later, but negotiated settlements require compromise.  We must accept we will not achieve all that we think we are due.  

These are our goals:

1. To protect and preserve the land Nordic acquired;

2. To gain permanent access from the highway to the Conservation Area across the former Eckrote lot;

3. To receive appropriate recompense to, as best we can, reimburse those to whom we are financially indebted;

4. To eliminate Nordic’s easement on the walking trails of the Little River.

Of course, we as a Board are already discussing possible long-term goals amongst ourselves.  We have talked about becoming an educational center; amalgamation with other intertidal coastal conservation areas; working with other organizations  to remove, repair or modify the decrepit and dangerous dams for restoration of natural habits for salmon and other species; historical commitments to the Wabanaki nation; repair of our relationship with the City Council and with those who have yet to understand the threat Nordic represented.  There are other ideas we can also consider for the future.

This evening I need to remind us that none of these ideas can ever come to fruition unless and until we have concluded a successful mediation.  This is the necessary step one, and we must now commit and devote our entire selves to this endeavor. 

FHLHCA President Sidney Block