BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 2, 2024
Workers have recently cleared some trees on the midcoast island that Maine is trying to develop as a staging facility for its proposed offshore wind industry. While state transportation officials say that clearing was meant to prepare the site for geotechnical work by a subcontractor, a representative of the group that oversees a conservation easement on the state-owned island argued that it was not given proper notice of the work. It was the latest case of area residents who are trying to protect Sears Island objecting to how the state is pursuing its goal of starting an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Maine, after the project was recently dealt a setback when the federal government denied Maine’s request for a $456 million grant to help pay for it.