SUN JOURNAL • June 18, 2022
As the senator from Franklin County, I served on a special select committee to figure out how we could improve the regulatory environment in the state. Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection was getting bogged down instead of focusing on projects having a significant environmental impact on the state. One such project is CMP’s Clean Energy Connect. Unfortunately, all the work on LD 1 has been lost on today’s BEP chair. The original permit appeal filed in April 2020 is scheduled to be taken up over two years later. He will not allow testimony on what has happened related to the corridor since the original appeal was filed, including the DEP commissioner’s permit suspension and the November referendum vote. He is not allowing public testimony. BEP board members need to step up, demand a public hearing on the whole record and not an outdated appeal. ~ Tom Saviello, Wilton