Advertisement

Forestry company seeks 3rd party to take over dam on upper St. Croix

Homeowners still frustrated as Maine looks to take over part of the Forest City dam

Anyone want a dam? The Woodland Pulp Co. in Baileyville, Me., says it will give away its dam on the upper St. Croix River, along with the land and water rights associated with it.

The offer comes after the forest company failed to win exemption from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC.

Two years ago, the commission issued a new licence to Woodland Pulp with orders, including maintenance requirements, that would have added substantially to the cost of operating the Forest City dam, the company says.

"After we figured in all of the associated costs over the life of the new order that was issued, which would total in excess of over $6 million ... we concluded it wasn't in our best interests to continue to own the dam," Scott Beal, the environmental manager for Woodland Pulp, said in an interview

Landowners in New Brunswick and Maine have expressed fears their summer homes on East Grand Lake will drop in value if the dam is decommissioned and the gates opened.

Decommissioning could lower water levels on East Grand Lake, nearby North Lake and a connecting stretch known as the Thoroughfare by an estimated six feet, or about 1.8 metres.

But Beal told Information Morning Moncton that the company would like to see the dam maintained as it is.

"Woodland Pulp has no interest in dewatering East Grand Lake, and we're working real hard to avoid that."

Process started

Beal also said there is a process to go through to properly transfer ownership and operation of the dam to a third party.

He confirmed the process has begun and said there are groups, including the lake association and an unnamed entity, that are interested in taking it over.

Beal said he hopes whoever does take over the dam can be exempted from FERC's licensing order, so it can save the associated costs.

"We were comfortable operating the asset under the old licence, but we were trying to avoid any new operating costs."

Beal added that Woodland Pulp is looking forward to reaching the point where the dam can be transferred and maintained as it is.

"We think it's beautiful, vibrant and it promotes a very diverse, very vibrant aquatic community in the lake system as well as the wildlife that depends on the system."

The company wants a successful transfer that will satisfy everyone involved, Beal said.

"I am very optimistic that we are going to find a way through this to preserve what we know and we've come to enjoy for decades around the East Grand Lake system."