MAINE PUBLIC • June 17, 2021
A state environmental regulator is seeking more information on whether the workers on the western Maine transmission corridor backed by Central Maine Power violated the project's state permit for tree-clearing. Opponents say the state should shut the project down until further investigation is complete. A Bangor-based certified forester, Roger Merchant, who opposes the project, says he inspected several sections of the "New England Clean Energy Connect" in the Coburn Mountain area, and found that workers razed a line as wide as 104 feet. He says that's almost double the 54-foot width allowed by the permit.