FREE PRESS • September 15, 2020
Nordic Aquafarms is hoping a new analysis of Penobscot Bay mud will lay to rest concerns about dredging for a pipeline to serve the land-based salmon farm the company hopes to build in Belfast. The tests, conducted by Aqua Survey, Inc., using a plan written by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, found lower levels of mercury than earlier tests by Nordic, which had been disputed by opponents of the project on grounds that they weren’t from the actual pipeline route. While the new tests appear to check many of the boxes for independent oversight and affirm Nordic’s original tests, company representatives doubt that will sway the people who demanded the additional testing, a group they believe will remain against the salmon farm no matter what.