Press release: Friends files emergency motion to hold Nordic accountable

[January 22, 2025. Belfast, Maine] This afternoon, the Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area (HLH) and Jeffrey Mabee and Judith Grace filed motions in two of the nine pending Nordic-related cases in the Business & Consumer Court (“BCD”) that would -- if granted – attach Nordic’s real property located in Belfast and Northport to secure the assets required to compensate Friends and Mabee and Grace for the damages and special damages that Nordic caused them to incur during Nordic’s six-year effort to take land they did not own, and had no right to use, for its proposed industrial land-based aquaculture factory.

While the court considers the Attachment motion, HLH and Mabee and Grace have requested the Court impose a Temporary Restraining Order to prohibit Nordic from selling their property. This is a precautionary move to prevent Nordic from transferring or encumbering any of its real property or property rights on land owned in Belfast and Northport, Maine.

Our 20-page filing and the accompanying exhibits explain why we believe this is necessary. Based on the facts and prior judicial determinations made in the nine cases currently under BCD jurisdiction, it is more than likely that we will: (a) win our slander-of-title claims suit against Nordic; and (b) win damage claims related to the unconstitutional and illegal scheme Nordic’s lawyers concocted to have the City use its eminent domain powers to take Mabee-Grace’s and Friends’ property and property rights for Nordic’s use and benefit – without just compensation. We are concerned that Nordic may sell its real property in Belfast and Northport and remove the resulting funds or conceal them to avoid paying for the damage they have caused.

Today’s filing asks the BCD Court to impose the Temporary Restraining Order immediately and adopt an expedited hearing and briefing schedule on the Nordic-related cases before the Court. Doing so will preserve our ability to recover on any judgment against Nordic. Our Emergency Motion is supported by the facts and law laid out in our January 14, 2025 motion before the Court, plus additional facts contained in this filing.

A copy of today’s motion is attached. Copies of the proposed orders supported by our motion and a series of related exhibits are available on request, as are copies of the January 14th filing and its accompanying materials.

For more information, contact:

Andrew Stevenson, Press Relations

Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area

703-407-2968

Updated January 23, 2025.