MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 2, 2022
The Dec. 26 op-ed by Richard Barringer and Lloyd Irland contains misinformation about the planning of NECEC. If it had been planned “for most of a decade,” it was undertaken in secret. This is reminiscent of the secret 2014 lease agreement between the Maine PUC and the Bureau of Parks and Lands to use public reserved land for the transmission line without informing the public or the Maine Legislature. The claim that site selection was undertaken with care is inconsistent with a DEP report. The transmission line would damage the habitat of 13 rare and endangered species; destroy 9.2 acres of rare jack pine forest; traverse Coburn Mountain, and be visible from Route 201. The DEP required conservation of 40,000 acres to offset the environmental damage. Supporters of NECEC should admit that they are willing to sacrifice the environment of the Upper Kennebec Valley to send hydropower to Massachusetts. ~ John Nicholas, Winthrop