State gives tense presentation on Sears Island wind port project

State transportation officials on Tuesday night held the first of what they say will be a series of public meetings about the controversial wind energy development port they’re working to develop on Sears Island. The presentation, which took place during a gathering of the Searsport select board, was attended by more than 100 people, including some protesters who oppose the use of Sears Island for the port and disrupted the meeting by yelling out occasional questions and comments. The event highlighted that state officials are trying to publicly respond to the concerns that local activists have been raising about the project, though some level of pushback is likely to continue despite those efforts. The town had previously solicited questions for local officials to ask on behalf of residents — rather than opening up the session to public comment — and one of the protesters was told to leave the meeting after yelling out multiple times. At one point, that attendee yelled out, “Your schedule is to destroy the largest wild island left on the eastern seaboard … Politeness let genocide happen on this land! We don’t need to be polite!” Maine Port Authority Executive Director Matthew Burns led off the two-hour meeting by delivering a presentation that was meant to provide general information and answer questions that area residents have been asking about the project. That was followed by the questions that selectmen asked on behalf of residents. The total cost of the project is estimated at $760 million over the course of its development, Burns said, which is slightly higher than was originally planned. That will include the addition of a construction facility and a semi-submersible barge. About 60 percent of the cost is expected to be funded through federal grants, while the rest would come from the state and the private sector. The construction phase of the project is expected to start no later than the end of 2026, Burns said, noting the tight deadlines are necessary for the project to remain viable. Permits to commence construction must be obtained by that point. The construction is expected to generate 1,300 jobs, while operating the port would require an estimated 350 workers. Burns reiterated that the state needs a large area of land to develop the port, such as is offered by Sears Island. “There are no other ports on the U.S. east coast right now that can support floating offshore wind,” he said. “We think that Maine is the right place to do this, because we have enough available acreage to be able to offer that to these project developers. The minimum acreage for that is about 100 acres.” Even with all the information provided to them, opponents of the project and activists hoping to preserve Sears Island are still not sold on the idea of transforming it into a wind port. More than 70 questions were submitted to selectmen for response. Burns’ presentation was somewhat derailed when an audience member blurted out, “What is your justification for wanting to use Sears Island?” Other questions pertained to how the project would affect the island’s wildlife and whether the state is looking at alternative locations, such as the already developed Mack Point shipping terminal that’s also in Searsport. The owners of Mack Point have also been making their own case for why it’s a better location. Burns responded that Mack Point has irregularly shaped land and uneven water levels, among other things that make it harder to develop for the wind port than Sears Island. Compared to Mack Point, he said that Sears Island has more of the assets that are required for the port to keep up with advances in wind energy, including space and an unobstructed rectangular footprint with direct access to deep water. “The industry is very rapidly changing. Technologies are changing every six months, there’s a new thing coming out. [Sears Island] is rectangular, it’s not interrupted by different warehouses, rail lines, anything like that. It allows developers to be flexible, bring things in that they had not previously thought of,” Burns said. Burns said that the wind port project will aid in the economic, environmental, and infrastructural future of the state and country. “This is a huge industry that Maine can take advantage of, and there’s been a lot of priority put into studying the industry further and figuring out what Maine’s place is in there, and how do we fit in,” he said of offshore wind energy development.