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I strongly oppose the decision by Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to locate a wind port on Sears Island in Waldo County. This is wrongly being touted as the least environmentally harmful location for a port, largely based on its requiring less dredging to establish access than using an available site at nearby Mack Point.
Placing a port on Sears Island could destroy upwards of 100 acres of woodland, a sand dune habitat, and be very harmful to the thousands of migrant birds that pass through the island. Mack Point is already highly industrialized and offers little benefit to birds and other wildlife. Claiming that Sears Island is the least environmentally harmful is simply inaccurate.
One of the unmentioned reasons for the state’s desire to develop Sears Island is likely that it offers room for future port expansion, whether that be for assembling wind towers, or anything else MDOT wishes to do. MDOT controls 300 acres on the island, and I think it will surely find reasons to expand once it establishes a foothold.
Sears Island is highly important to birds and is one of the premiere locations in the state for observing spring and fall migrant songbirds. It is sad that some of the state’s largest environmental organizations have not taken a firm stance against developing the island. Check out the Alliance for Sears Island website for more information and I urge you to contact your state legislators and ask them to oppose a port on Sears Island.
John Wyatt
Winterport
