6 Years of Deception
On March 21st, Attorney Kim Ervin Tucker filed a complaint with the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), following six months of municipal inactivity after a court-mandated review. This legal action addresses the City's August 2021 decision to employ eminent domain for acquiring intertidal land, aiding the development of Nordic Aquafarms. This decision has ignited both legal scrutiny and community backlash, with Ervin Tucker's filing in Waldo County Superior Court highlighting a lengthy six-year saga of deceptive practices by the City in favor of Nordic Aquafarms.
At the heart of the dispute is the city's intent to secure land for Nordic’s half-billion dollar land-based fish farm, necessitating the installation of water intake and discharge pipelines on private property. Ervin Tucker’s legal challenge seeks to reverse the city council’s eminent domain decision, validate Donald Richards’ survey of the Little River, compel Nordic to document ownership and address tax liabilities for Eckrote Lot 36, annul Nordic’s acquired release deeds, and prevent the city from facilitating Nordic’s infrastructure development on the disputed lands.
Ervin Tucker has also called on the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to reevaluate and potentially rescind its 2018 approval of the Belfast Water District’s (BWD) sale of the Little River dam property to Nordic. She alleges that the MPUC’s fast-tracked approval and the city’s negotiations with Nordic were marred by deception and misinformation on behalf of the City and BWD. Ervin Tucker also noted discrepancies between the agreed terms of the sale and those initially approved by the MPUC on June 8, 2018.
Public sentiment against the Nordic project and the City Council’s use of eminent domain has been fervent, with community members and activists from both Belfast and neighboring Northport challenging the transparency and ethics of city officials’ actions.
Stakeholders and interested parties have until May 3 to submit their comments under MPUC Docket No. 2018-00043, which could influence the commission’s subsequent decisions in this ongoing saga. Click here to make a comment.