AUGUSTA, Maine — After initially defeating it last week, the Maine House of Representatives voted Wednesday to instead approve the proposal from Gov. Janet Mills to exempt the Sears Island offshore wind terminal from coastal sand dune protections.
The 77-65 decision Wednesday evening to agree with the Senate in supporting the governor’s bill was a dramatic change following the House’s initial 80-65 vote last week to oppose it. After a final enactment vote in the Senate, the proposal will head to Mills for her signature.
The bill, as well as the state’s decision to use Sears Island as the staging ground for its first offshore wind port, drew support from both Democrats and Republicans but also opposition from members on opposite sides of the aisle.
Mills unveiled her proposal last month after she announced in February the state would use Sears Island as a staging ground for the state’s first offshore wind port that could become operational by 2029. The Maine Department of Transportation said the exemption is needed due to only one dune that is not naturally occurring and that formed due to a jetty placement.
Mills has noted the deepwater port is key to Maine’s climate goals that include using 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman previously said without this bill or language in another one, the state would lose “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to create jobs, generate clean energy and “protect our environment and the health of Maine people from the ravages of climate change.”
A hard-to-define alliance of conservationists, tribes, Republicans and Democrats has opposed the use of Sears Island and the governor’s sand dune proposal, arguing instead for the state to use nearby Mack Point because it is privately owned and developed, while a mix of labor and climate groups along with lawmakers from both parties have supported the state’s decision. Each site had a development price tag between $400 million to $500 million, but Mills said Mack Point would cost more because the state does not own it and it has issues with dredging.
“Despite the disappointing outcome, residents of Searsport and surrounding communities are steadfast in their commitment to protect the island from this development,” the volunteer-run Citizens to Protect Sears Island said.
Sears Island, at 941 acres, is off the coast by Searsport and is the largest undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay. Under a 2009 agreement, about two-thirds of the island is conserved while the state reserved 330 acres as a “transportation parcel” to potentially use for a future cargo and container port.
State officials have noted various environmental impact studies and permits are still needed before any construction begins on the offshore wind port. Still, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, said Wednesday that “we do not need to fast track and blow by our environmental laws to build a port,” while Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport, complained of climate and labor lobbyists “roaming the halls” of the State House to win support for the bill.
But Rep. Dick Campbell, R-Orrington, who supported the governor’s bill, pushed back on claims the project and exemption will harm the environment.
“I’m not seeing this as destroying dunes,” Campbell said.