New bill on sand dune protections reignites debate over proposed Sears Island wind port

A new bill seeks to roll back sand dune protections as a way to allow construction of a proposed wind port project on Sears Island. The bill is emerging as the first source of debate over Gov. Janet Mills' selection of Sears Island as the preferred site of a wind terminal on the Midcoast, which faces an extensive permitting environmental assessment process. The legislative proposal from the Mills administration would grant an exception to the state's sand dune protections. Specifically, the bill would allow the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate an application for the offshore wind terminal, which would be located on a coastal sand dune on Sears Island.