STATUS: Killed
 
TYPE: Coal

OPPOSITION: Natural Resources Council of Maine; Local citizens
 
PROSPECTS: Unlikely

BACKGROUND: The developers proposed a $1.5 billion 700-megawatt coal gasification plant in Wiscasset, Maine on the site of a decommissioned nuclear plant.  To proceed, the developer needed a zoning change to allow a 230-foot tall building at the plant site.  However, on November 6, 2007, voters rejected the zoning amendment sought by the company, effectively blocking the company from pursuing the coal plant.  The project was fiercely opposed by local environmentalists and lobster fishermen, who argued that coal barges coming and going would severely decrease the areas the lobstermen could fish in and disrupt their fishing.  Subsequently, the Maine legislature passed a law prohibiting coal gasification plants until the State promulgates CO2 sequestration regulations, a process that could take until 2011 or longer.
 
SOURCES: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/4371677.html
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2007/10/14/maine-lobstermen-rally-against-coal-gassification/
http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=1860
http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2333

LAST UPDATED: November 23, 2010