PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 13, 2023
Offshore wind energy is critical to the future of Maine. Before turbines can begin producing clean energy, Maine needs to establish a port to assemble these offshore wind components and ship them out to the Gulf of Maine. First, Sears Island is the least expensive site to develop. The costs to modify and operate the two existing ports at Eastport or Mack Point would be nearly double the cost of Sears Island. Second, any development at Mack Point would involve dredging more than 500,000 cubic yards from Searsport Harbor, which would need to be disposed of at sea. Development of a port facility on Sears Island would not require such dredging. Third, critics have claimed that Sears Island should never be developed as a port site, but a settlement between the state and some of these very groups says exactly the opposite. ~ Capt. David Gelinas, Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association; Dennis Damon, former chair of the Marine Resources and Transportation Committees; and Sean Mahoney, Conservation Law Foundation in Portland.