April 21, 2012
Maine, Press releases

Bowers wind project denied

Friends of Maine's Mountains, PO Box 60, Weld, ME 04285 (207) 585-2005 www.friendsofmainesmountains.org

Friends of Maine’s Mountains (FMM) congratulates the Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed (PPDLW) for its successful efforts to protect the Downeast Lakes region of Maine. We join PPDLW and countless Maine citizens, professional guides and sporting camp owners in celebrating this significant victory.

Today, at a special meeting at the Four Points Hotel in Bangor, the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) voted to deny a permit to First Wind of Boston (Champlain Wind LLC) for their proposed Bowers Mountain wind project.

FMM commends PPDLW, a grass-roots citizens’ group organized to preserve a region rich in scenic natural resources. The Downeast Lakes region has a centuries-long history of traditional commerce founded on nature-based tourism. Due to PPDLW’s leadership and the participation of hundreds of citizens across Maine, the area’s natural resources, history and primary economic engine have been successfully protected.

LURC Commissioners considered the benefits and drawbacks of the Bowers wind project over the course of many months. This was not a decision arrived at lightly. FMM appreciates LURC’s diligence and patience and the commitment Commissioners have shown as they juggled the misguided directives of the Wind Energy Act with Maine’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Long before the decision document was signed by LURC, John Lamontagne, Director of Communications for First Wind, stated that the company will modify the Bowers application and resubmit it later this year. But Maine citizens–especially locals and tourists to the Downeast area, as well as professionals whose jobs depend on the region’s rich scenic resources–know that such impacts cannot be mitigated with a “modified” project.

If it becomes necessary, FMM will most assuredly stand behind PPDLW, which has vowed to continue to protect the extraordinary Downeast Lakes Watershed from the adverse affects of industrial wind.

Contacts: Chris O’Neil, 590-3842 or Karen Pease, 628-2070 or 340-0066


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/04/21/bowers-wind-project-denied/