There is an article in today’s Central Maine Papers (Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel) about the recent Superior Court ruling by staff writer Jessica Lowell:
Clary Lake residents await enforcement of water level order following years of dispute
Love all the publicity 🙂
Here’s an archived copy if perchance you can’t get to the newspaper’s website:
It’s been 3 weeks since the recent Superior Court ruling affirming the Clary Lake Water Level Order, and Aquafortis Associates LLC has apparently decided not to challenge it. I just spoke to the Lincoln County Superior Court Clerk who confirmed that no filing announcing a Law Court appeal had been made by the March 19th deadline. Also, rumor has it that Preti Flaherty who for years has been counsel to Aquafortis Associates no longer represents them. You can’t go to the Supreme Court without a lawyer.
While I’m pleased as can be, their decision not to appeal does not come as a big surprise to me. And that’s that.
I was briefly phone-interviewed yesterday afternoon by Ed Morin of Maine Public Radio about the recent Superior Court ruling. I didn’t hear the broadcast or find a link to the audio story, but I did find this short article on the Maine Public website:
Court Rules in Favor of Clary Lake Association
More publicity!
We haven’t had a Lincoln County News reporter covering Clary Lake since sometime last summer, until now. Reporter Greg Foster has written a great first article on Clary Lake:
DEP’s Court Win Clears Way for Clary Lake Water Level to Return
Here’s an archived PDF copy if you have trouble getting the article off the LCN website:
Hmmmm…
In light of the recent Superior Court decision affirming the Clary Lake Water Level Order [WLO], people are quite justified in asking “What’s next?” regarding the DEP taking enforcement action. The Water Level Order after all was issued over 4 years ago and we have been waiting way too long for the court case to conclude. Winning this hugely important battle was a crucial step towards bringing the Clary Lake dam into compliance with the WLO, but the war isn’t over yet. While I don’t know exactly how things are going to play out, I do firmly believe (and have believed all along) that we will ultimately prevail in our battle to restore Clary Lake, and I will continue to do everything in my power to bring about a satisfactory resolution of our water level crisis as quickly as possible. But what’s next, and how long do we have to wait for a resolution? Continue reading
February 2018
I have archived the February 2018 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable feature of the February chart is how little the lake level changed over the course of the month despite the gate being wide open and with no major precipitation events to generate runoff. We started the month at -29.28″ below the normal high water mark and ended the month at -33.24″ below the normal high water mark, only 3.96″ lower that we started. The lake level was also above the hole in the dam for the whole month, increasing the amount of water leaving the lake. Nonetheless, the lake level stayed pretty flat for the month; I attribute the relatively stable lake level to reduced outflows as a result of channel friction and ice cover in the marsh which has been unusually thick this winter. Precipitation for the month was 2.28″ which is a little less than the historical average of 2.44″ for the month of February. Year to date our precipitation total is 6.09″ which is an inch more than average.
Finally! After 4 long years of legal wrangling, yesterday Justice Billings issued his Decision and Order in the matter of Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] vs Maine Department of Environmental Protection, denying AQF’s Rule 80C appeal and fully AFFIRMING the Clary Lake Water Level Order. All of AQF’s arguments were denied. ALL of them. The document is 17 pages long and totally worth reading fully. Each argument is addressed separately and in great detail:
The Decision did come sooner than I had anticipated; I was figuring we’d be lucky to get a ruling before April or even May. I’ve been saying all along that I fully expected the court to uphold the Order so this was not really an unexpected outcome, but that doesn’t make it any less noteworthy, or exciting. I can hardly contain myself 🙂
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Clary Lake Dam water level order appeal heard in Wiscasset court
Here’s an archived PDF copy if for some reason you can’t get the on line article.
I attended the hearing for oral arguments on the Clary Lake water level order appeal yesterday in Lincoln County Superior Court (case AP 2014-1, Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection [DEP or Department]). I was accompanied by my wife. In addition, Clary Lake Association President Malcolm Burson and Board member David Knight were there along with 3-4 people from DEP, a few people I did not know, and a couple of reporters. Paul Kelley and Richard Smith were also there. AQF was represented by attorneys Timothy D. Connolly and R. Benjamin Borowski; Attorney Anthony Buxton was NOT there; I don’t know if his decision to not show up is significant or not, but I was quite surprised by his absence. The State was represented by Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak. The purpose of the hearing was to give counsel for each side an opportunity to verbally present their case to the Judge. Their oral presentations closely followed their respective briefs (see: 10 October 2017: Aquafortis Files Rule 80C Brief, 16 November 2017: State files Response Brief, and 05 December 2017: Aquafortis Associates Replies to State Brief). You’ll find a few more pictures from the hearing in the new Winter 2018 photo gallery. Continue reading
A quick reminder that a hearing for oral arguments in the Clary Lake Water Level Order Appeal is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday February 6th at 1:30 PM at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset. The hearing is expected to last about 1 hour. I wrote about this in a Water Level Order Appeal Update post back on January 11th. The hearing will be in the Superior Court Room on the second floor of the Lincoln County Courthouse building. If you’re going to attend, plan to show up at least 30 minutes early; on court days, parking can be hard to find and there is a metal detector to pass through which slows down people entering the building. You’ll want to be on your best behavior and should leave your attitudes at the door: there will be no opportunity to speak, and disruptions of any sort will likely not be tolerated by the Judge. So no clapping, hooting, booing, or general mayhem; this is an opportunity to listen; pay attention and you’ll probably learn something. Make a scene and the lot of us will probably be thrown out of the court room 🙂
Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak will be there representing the Department of Environmental Protection. Attorney Anthony Buxton and likely several other lawyers from PretiFlaherty will be there representing Aquafortis Associates LLC.
January 2018
I have archived the January 2018 Water Level Chart (at left) starting us off on another year of sub-par water levels. The most notable feature of the January chart is that the lake level actually made it up into the “allowable” range (for this time of year), reaching a high of -19.08″ below the normal high water mark on January 15th as the result of nearly 2.5″ of heavy rains and snow melt. Gotta love January thaw! I had stopped making measurements on December 31st but the warm weather and rapidly rising lake level made getting down to the lake and actually finding the water surface relatively easy.
Precipitation for the month of January was 3.81″ most of which we received in a big storm in the middle of the month. Average for January is only 2.6″ so already we’re 1.2″ above normal for the year, but the year is just starting.
All told I only made 8 water level measurements for the month of January and I don’t expect to resume measurements on anything like a regular basis until sometime spring. I’ll try and grab a few measurements between now and then if the opportunity presents itself.
It is with sadness that I inform you of the passing of Bruce Relyea. Bruce was a friend of mine, a faithful steward of Clary Lake, and a long time member of the Clary Lake Association. Bruce and his wife Audrey bought their property on the south shore of Clary Lake in Jefferson from Francis Ward in 1967 and it remains in the family today. Bruce was an early supporter of the Association which was formed not too long before Bruce arrived, in 1960. Bruce served as Association President from 2002 through 2004 and has been a generous benefactor of the Association over the years. He will be missed. Here’s his obituary from the Fort Worth Texas Star-Telegram:
Bruce J. Relyea 1928 – 2018
Bruce J. Relyea FORT WORTH — Bruce J. Relyea, 90, of Fort Worth, passed away on January 9, 2018. Bruce was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Mildred and Bruce Relyea. He enlisted into the United States Army Air Force at age 18, serving in Japan as a control tower operator, and upon discharge he attended Miami University of Ohio, earning a degree in Business Administration. In 1950, he began his career as an auditor for General Electric Co. in Cleveland. Four years later, he married his wife of 64 years, Audrey Jennison. Bruce was later employed at Penn Central Co., Ebasco Industries, and as Comptroller with Union Pacific. He ended his career as Vice President of Finance at Champlin Petroleum Company in Fort Worth. Not one to sit idly, after retirement, Bruce took up ranching in Grandview before returning to Fort Worth to spend time with his children and grandchildren. Bruce was an avid reader, a talented bridge player, an enthusiastic golfer, and a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He enjoyed spending summers with Audrey and family at his wild blueberry farm, North Forty, in Jefferson, Maine. Bruce was preceded in death by his infant son, Douglas Edward. SURVIVORS: His wife of 63 years, Audrey Jennison Relyea; children, Robert Bruce Relyea (Jeraldine), Susan Relyea Pardee (Tom), Steven Jennison Relyea (Adrienne), Gregory John Relyea (June); . his sister, Lynda Metzler. 11 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.
On behalf of the Clary Lake Association Board I wish offer our condolences to his wife Audrey and the family.
The Clary Lake water level charts have been updated for the first time this year. I hadn’t expected to resume water level measurements yet, but heavy overnight rains not only melted all the snow in my yard but also the ice around the edge of the lake making it too easy to obtain a water level measurement. The lake level is now -30.48″ below the normal high water mark having risen 11.76″ from my last measurement back on December 31st. It remains to be seen whether I’m back to a regular, daily measurement routine. Probably not, but ever the opportunist, I’ll snag an occasional water level measurement this winter when the opportunity presents itself.
Tim Chase recorded 2.4″ of precipitation at his Grand Army Weather Station. I for one am glad it wasn’t in the form of snow…
A hearing for oral arguments has been scheduled in Lincoln County Superior Court for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 1:30 PM. The hearing is expected to last approximately 1 hour. The purpose of the hearing is to provide an opportunity for the parties to speak in support of their written briefs which have previously been submitted to the court. The hearing is open to the public and Margaret and I plan to attend. I expect some CLA Board members will be there as well.know.
For those of you who want to review the briefs in this case, here are links to the posts about them:
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