On Tuesday evening, October 16th, during a Belfast City Council Work Session, the surveyor hired by Belfast and Northport to delineate the towns’ municipal boundary confirmed what Upstream Watch has known since the beginning; Nordic does not have, and has never had, access to Penobscot Bay.
View of the intertidal land at the mouth of the Little River.
Surveyor Robert Yarumian II of Buxton, Maine confirmed surveyor Don Richards’ 2019 boundary line, and that Belfast took land outside of their jurisdictional boundaries in the 2021 eminent domain taking granting Nordic Aquafarms access to the Bay for their discharge and intake pipes. Yarumian was hired by the City of Belfast earlier this spring as an independent surveyor to settle a dispute regarding the boundary between the municipalities as a result of the 2021 eminent domain taking.
“After years of questions being raised regarding the boundary, we’re hopeful this survey will finally settle it - Belfast took land by eminent domain that was outside of their jurisdictional boundaries and granted an easement to Nordic,” said Executive Director Jill Howell.
Yarumian presented his preliminary findings to the Belfast City Council, Northport Select Board, and the public via zoom, and answered questions from the Council and Select Board. His findings also showed that at the mouth of the Little River, the Belfast and Northport municipal boundaries diverge, and a “gore” exists that neither municipality has jurisdiction over.
In May 2024, the Belfast City Council vacated the eminent domain taking that is at the center of this boundary dispute and survey. Nordic predictably sued the City of Belfast and Belfast City Council, claiming that the easement granted to Nordic by the City through the land taken by eminent domain is still valid. While we were opposed to this survey and believed it to be unnecessary and an additional waste of taxpayer money on the Nordic issue, Belfast and Northport moved forward with this effort. The results confirm that even if this easement remains valid, Nordic still does not have access to the Bay. Upstream also contends that the conservation easement on the intertidal land and uplands is still in effect and would prevent Nordic’s industrial pipes from accessing the Bay regardless.
In a statement provided to the Bangor Daily News, Jacki Cassida, a spokesperson for Nordic Aquafarms, said the company will wait until the final report and recommendations are complete before responding to the survey and that “We have and will continue researching alternative options.” No additional details have ever been provided by Nordic on these “alternative options.” If a substantially different project is proposed by Nordic, new permits would likely be needed.
This was a preliminary presentation, and the finalized report is anticipated to be completed by the end of October. While this preliminary survey result confirms what we always maintained – that Nordic never had access to the bay – we stand ready to defend our waters and anticipate further maneuvers by Nordic to try to circumvent the clear determination that they cannot move forward with the project.
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