MAINE MONITOR • December 28, 2025
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a letter of warning designed to recoup wetlands protections lost in a regulatory oversight more than 20 years ago. The lapse by state and federal regulators allowed a wetlands mitigation site in Belfast to be marketed for commercial development earlier this year. The mitigation deal emerged from the development of credit card giant MBNA’s sprawling campus in Belfast. In exchange for impacts to about seven acres of wetlands, the Maine DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to let MBNA restore wetlands on a nearby 24-acre site, and protect it in perpetuity for conservation and public access. Bank of America acquired the wetlands parcel when it bought MBNA in 2006. It sold the 24 acres at auction this January, but the deed was unencumbered by a conservation easement, because it had never been filed. The new owner is now offering it for sale for commercial development.