I’ve been a little busy this week so I’m just now getting around to posting about the latest article in this week’s Lincoln County News. This one covers the recently submitted final comments on the Draft Clary Lake water level order and it is presumably by Dominik Lobkowicz though there is no byline on it. Like the KJ article earlier this week, the focus is primarily on Paul Kelley and his complaints about the draft order:

Dam Owner Cries Foul With Comment Process

Here’s a locally archived copy:

[ARCHIVED]: Dam Owner Cries Foul With Comment Process

At my request, Beth Callahan has forwarded me a compilation of all the comments received by the Department on the DRAFT Clary Lake water level order. These include 3 emailed comments sent directly to Beth Callahan that, through understandable oversight, never made it to the Service List.  These include emails from Senator Christopher Johnson, Steven Sheppard of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Jeff Murphy of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Upon review it is easy to see why these “comments” were not forwarded to the Service List. Steven Sheppard of the USF&W’s comment consisted of the single sentence “The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service supports the provisions of the Draft Order.” Likewise, Jeff Murphy of NOAA asked a simple question and got a simple answer. Senator Johnson’s comment consisted of pointing out a grammatical error.  Still, as trivial as these comments were, everyone is entitled to read them. Regarding Chris Johnson’s comment, I should point out that I was carbon-copied on Chris’s email to Beth Callahan and it never dawned on me that by all rights and purposes it should have been shared with the Service List.

I’ve separated out the extra comments into 2 files:

Comment by Senator Christopher Johnson on the Draft Clary Lake water level order

Agency Comments on the Draft Clary Lake water level order

Here’s the compilation of ALL the comments received by the Department

All Comments Received on the Draft Clary Lake water level  order

Here are links to the comments I’ve already posted:

Petitioner and Clary Lake Association comments

Pleasant Pond Mill LLC comments

Thomas Gillette comments

There is a  new article by Paul Koenig in yesterday’s Sunday January 5th Kennebec Journal about Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s travails in obtaining more time to comment on the Draft water level order.  I was interviewed for the article by Mr. Koenig on Friday. I didn’t get a Sunday paper but a few people who did said they didn’t see it in the paper so it may only have appeared online. In any case, here it is:

Whitefield dam owner denied additional time to comment on lake plan

To refresh everyone’s memory, the Draft Clary Lake water level order was issued on 19 December and provided for an 11 day comment period ending on Monday, 30 December. They extended the comment period 1 week to the end of business today, January 6th. Continue reading →

The DEP responded in record time to Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s motion to withdraw, reconsider, or elucidate sent to the Service List earlier this morning. I expected a quick response, but I didn’t expect them to dismiss it so perfunctorily and with so little fanfare. They did not bother with a procedural order, they simply sent this short email:

Dear Mr. Kelley,

Thank you for your submittal, dated January 2, 2014 containing a Motion for Withdrawal/Reconsideration/Elucidation of the Department’s Procedural Order #9.  The Department has reviewed and considered your Motion and determined that Procedural Order #9 will not be withdrawn or reconsidered.  The ruling issued in Procedural Order #9 stands on its own merits.  The deadline to receive comments on the draft Water Level Order remains as Monday, January 6, 2014.

Sincerely,

Beth Callahan
Project Manager
Division of Land Resource Regulation
Maine Department of Environmental Protection

It is pretty clear to me that the Department of Environmental Protection is tired of Mr. Kelley’s quasi-legal maneuvering and have had enough. One has to wonder whether Mr. Kelley has gotten the message.

At 9:33 AM this morning Paul Kelley of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC sent a message to the Service List in which he filed a 5 page Motion with the Department of Environmental Protection addressed to Hearing Officer Heather Parent and Project Manager Beth Callahan. If anyone had any questions as to whether Paul Kelley was going to quietly submit to the Department of Environmental Protection’s water level order, this should dispel them. I certainly didn’t have any. The Motion is as follows:

“MOTION FOR WITHDRAWAL/RECONSIDERATION/ELUCIDATION OF THE MAINE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (“DEP”) PROCEDURAL ORDER #9, ISSUED DECEMBER 27, 2013; AND FURTHER INCORPORATING ADDITIONAL MOTION(S) FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO REPLY TO PROPOSED DRAFT WATER LEVEL ORDER AND OTHER PROCEDURAL MATTERS.“

I haven’t read it yet.  I will shortly and will comment later. Here’s the 5 page Motion:

Here is the accompanying email:
Continue reading →