Pembroke residents have been filing comments in opposition and state and federal agencies have requested intervenor status following the filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of an application for a tidal power project on the Pennamaquan River. The proposed tidal barrage has a new name but an almost identical design to one proposed by Halcyon Tidal Power that was debated from 2010 to 2016, when FERC terminated the application, citing the lack of progress by the company on required studies. The new company, Pembroke Tidal Power Project LLC, is under the umbrella of Nestar Energy, with Brad Fletcher as the CEO and Ramez Atiya as the chief technical officer. Atiya was also the chairman of Halcyon Tidal Power.
      Among those filing comments during the 60-day comment period that ended in late May was Michael Incze of Middletown, R.I., a retired oceanographer, who writes that the proposal to install a tidal dam "is an affront to the dedicated effort of nearly three decades of dismantling dams in our state and nation at the cost of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to restore health in our waterways." He adds, "The Pennamaquan River estuary is a unique and critical environmental area. Further, it is essential to maintaining watershed and Cobscook Bay health and providing recovery to these areas threatened by anthropological and climatic forcing events."
      Comments submitted in a letter from Thomas and Catherine Adelman and over 60 other Pembroke residents also urge FERC not to issue any permit for the project, noting that the Pembroke Tidal Power Advisory Committee had submitted a lengthy list of environmental and practical issues that were not addressed when the similar project had been proposed 14 years ago. Arguing that the previous application was terminated by FERC after Halcyon Tidal Power was unable to secure financing for any of the required field studies, they state that the only possible reason that the new application has been submitted to FERC is to qualify for future Department of Energy funding opportunities. They maintain that "the dam construction technology is not at all developed, appears to have serious flaws and is therefore unlikely to attract private investment. As estuary abutters and taxpayers, we are aggrieved that the project might even be seriously considered for any federal investment." They also note that the project would interfere with the passage and mooring of scallop boats, with Cobscook Bay having the most valuable scallop beds in the state, and would "block the passage of elvers and alewives from salt to fresh waters and jeopardize the biological health of Cobscook Bay, which is the most species rich area in the western North Atlantic north of the tropics."
      Among those requesting intervenor status are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Town of Pembroke and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. For the town, Selectman Anthony Bennett urged dismissal of the project. In their filing, Michael-Corey Hinton and Brendan Keenan Jr., attorneys for the Passamaquoddy Tribe, state that the tribe is opposed to the project because of its potential impacts on fish and wildlife, particularly anadromous fish like alewives. "Much of the tribe's work in the Pennamaquan watershed has focused on recovering populations and habitat which were impaired by existing dams and other passage impediments," the attorneys write. "The tribe's efforts have been largely effective. New infrastructure that impedes fish passage and harms important habitat, which the project will likely do, will jeopardize the tribe's success." They argue that the company has not shown "that it is properly accounting for fish and wildlife resources," with the application not including any details concerning fishway designs. Also, drawdowns that will expose the intertidal zone could impact habitat for clams and several fish species and have detrimental effects on nutrient flow and foraging for species such as seals. The tribe is also concerned about the project's potential to harm scallop and sea urchin populations "and the tribe's citizens' ability to harvest them."
      In response to the comments, Atiya and Fletcher write that the project does not propose using a dam, with water being impounded. "The same volume of water flows in and out of the Pennamaquan, and the same tidal levels occur on the shore, with the project in place as would occur without the project, only with a slight retiming." The project would operate so as to reproduce the natural tidal cycle, with about a 1.7-hour delay, and the intertidal zone would be exposed and submerged "to the exact levels as if the tidal power plant were absent, thus preserving the environmental integrity and health of the ecologically fragile intertidal zone."
      The project, which would extend across the river from Kelly Point on Leighton Point Road to Hersey Neck, would include a 9.8' x 1,640' concrete tidal diversion dam; a 118' x 141' concrete powerhouse caisson housing four turbine generators each with a generating capacity of 5.3 megawatts; a boat lift; two rock embankments; and a 2.5-mile-long, 35-kilovolt transmission line connecting to the regional grid. Annual generation is estimated at 87,000 megawatt hours. The use of piles to support the project's structures would reduce the dimensions of the enclosure elements by about 80%, resulting in an enclosure that is not more than three meters wide.
      As for fish passage, Atiya and Fletcher write that the structure would allow passage at all levels of the water column. Also, they state that studies have shown that the proposed bulb turbines do not result in damage to fish bladders from pressure gradients and there are "very low injury rates from mechanical strikes." They also note that a small lock or boat lift would allow vessels to pass.
      Atiya and Fletcher add, "Our aim is to construct an environmentally very low impact renewable power project," and they say they "share a deep commitment to the preservation of the vast resources at and surrounding the proposed site of the project." Project benefits to the community include tax revenues, job creation and tourism potential.
      With the ending of the 60-day public comment period, FERC will consider whether to issue a preliminary permit, which would grant the company priority to file a license application during the permit term. A preliminary permit does not authorize the company to perform any land-disturbing activities or enter on lands or waters not owned by the company, without the owners' permission.