The future of a costly Nordic Aquafarms project is unclear after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Thursday ruled against the company, giving rights to the intertidal zone back to landowners opposing the project.
Nordic Farms intended to bury pipes for a $500 million land-based salmon farm in the disputed area. However, the new ruling strips them of the right to use the land, returning them to Jeffrey R. Mabee, Judith B.Grace and Friends of the Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area.
It’s unclear what will happen to the project now that the company no longer has the land rights.
An agreement in 2018 between Nordic and landowners Richard and Janet Eckrote had granted the company the right to use that land between Penobscot Bay. That was upheld in an Oct. 2021 decision by Superior Court Justice Robert Murray, who ruled that the Eckrotes were the rightful owners of the intertidal zone. Mabee, Grace, Friends and Upstream Watch subsequently appealed that decision. The supreme court decision overturns Murray’s ruling.
The Maine Supreme Court has determined that Mabee and Grace owned the intertidal land through deeds dating back to the 1940s. The two landowners had placed a conservation easement over the intertidal land in 2019, which they later assigned to Friends of the Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area.