“Today’s decision is a huge win for the city of South Portland, and it proves that local action can make a difference,” said Sean Mahoney, executive vice president and director of CLF Maine. “Big oil tried every legal trick in the book to try and invalidate this ordinance and they lost on every count.”
“Because other people break the law doesn’t make breaking the law right,” responded Jerry Elmer, senior attorney for the CLF.
CLF’s New Hampshire director Tom Irwin says the river has become loaded with nutrients from fish food and waste, and that tests show the water quality is much higher upstream of the hatchery than downstream.
Let’s be clear: CLF doesn’t want to stop thoughtful, responsible development – it is just the opposite. We believe these plans must be made with full public input and with public rights as the guiding principle, not just the trailing afterthought.
“What isn’t a solution is leaving a very dirty facility like this right at sea level in a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone with no consideration of the impacts of climate change,” said Chris Kilian.
Allan Kanner, a lawyer for the CLF, argued that the risk has been made clear already. During the historic spring floods in 2010 that inundated large parts of Rhode Island, storm water washed contaminants from the Shell terminal into the river, he said.
In the face of rapid and irreversible development activity on the waterfront, it’s reassuring that CLF and other advocates are again manning the barricades to ensure a clean harbor’s benefits are enjoyed by all.
A new analysis done by the regional electric grid operator, ISO-New England, confirms what experts have said for years: New England doesn’t need expensive new gas pipelines to keep the lights on and our homes warm during harsh winters. Instead, the clean power and energy efficiency we are already buying will guarantee year-round reliability and… Continue reading My Turn: David Ismay: No need for more gas infrastructure
The Conservation Law Foundation filed notice that it will challenge the plan in court, saying that it violates state law by giving developers the right to build too much along a key stretch of Boston Harbor while requiring too few public benefits in return.
Communities in Vermont still reeling from the toxic waste left behind in their drinking water from long-closed industrial plants understand the importance of corporate responsibility when it comes to environmental issues. Common sense protections keep polluters on the hook and money in the bank for clean-up efforts.
