Article by Sierra Club Maine Volunteer Leader Becky Bartovics.
I am a water person. So a construction project of this size drew my attention to the wetlands and streams that would be impacted. Wetland loss has extremely serious implications for every living thing on the planet and we are already losing 10% of our wetlands per year. First, I was shocked at the hundreds of wetlands and vernal pools that would be impacted, many of them permanently by the construction and maintenance of the Corridor. Second, I became aware of the completely unimaginable destruction hydro dams have on the boreal forest ecosystem and the people who have lived and sustained their lives in concert with that water system for thousands of years.
We all live downstream. Downstream of these megadams the lowest members of the food chain are devastated by the interruption of seasonal spring water flows and subsequent scouring at other times when flow is allowed during normally drier times of year. Those microscopic animals feed the next level and on up until you get to humans. Downstream of the Corridor, native brown trout feast on the mayflies and myriad other smaller invertebrates that a cool forested environment provides. It felt like a gut punch when I read the CMP Corridor proposal. Even more so when I realized that CMP had submitted the application without even considering any alternatives. They did not do an alternatives analysis which should have caused the application to be rejected as incomplete by every agency that reviewed it (it's the law). If you or I applied to develop a thirty-acre project that would destroy vernal pools and wetlands, there would be no question that absent an alternative analysis it would be rejected.
The resistance to the NECEC proposal has been awe inspiring. The numbers of people who spoke out about the 53-mile corridor bisecting an area that represents a sanctuary for so many people in the region was epic. I stood in the cold twice with many others to collect signatures for the citizens initiatives. For me, the controversy about the project, the size of the project through so many jurisdictions, the extent of the fragmentation caused by cutting the swath through forested wetlands with iconic species obviously should have resulted in an extensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which we asked for numerous times.
Every step of the way, it has appeared that the scales are tilted towards providing power to Massachusetts that is definitely not green or clean and which if proposed in either Massachusetts or Maine would be soundly rejected. Megadams are illegal in both states. Sierra Club Maine had no choice but to file a lawsuit in the Federal District Court here in Maine. And, we did so with the Appalachian Mountain Club and Natural Resources Council of Maine in order to broaden our field of expertise and allies. It has been a pleasure to work with both groups. So far the ride has been a bumpy one. We’ve had to file a Preliminary Injunction to stop construction while the court could hear the merits of the lawsuit requiring an EIS. And, we have had to deal with appeals. Clearly CMP/Iberdrola have deep pockets and a passel of lawyers. We are represented by EarthRise Legal Clinic from Lewis and Clark Law School and luckily have law clinic students who are helping to develop our case alongside the able leadership of Lia Comerford and Kevin Cassidy. It’s a David and Goliath situation. But the apparent lack of respect for the letter of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) laws and the opaque, not transparent, way in which CMP and the Army Corps of Engineers are handling this application gives us hope that the courts will find in our favor. What I am left with at the moment is that citizens have to participate in these processes. Our job is to hold the officials accountable. We cannot assume that the regulatory framework will hold up without our scrutiny. Phytoplankton, roaring brook mayflies, native brown trout, and canadian lynx need our voices. Water is precious and its natural flow provides for all life. It’s why I do what I do and why I bring you with me whenever I have to speak in public. You keep my chin from quivering.