About 60 people attended the Searsport Workforce Development Event, sponsored by the Maine Labor Climate Council, at the Searsport Community Center Tuesday, May 14, from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m.
Several Protect Sears Island supporters were seated among the crowd. Moderated by Scott Cuddy of Maine Labor Climate Council, the panel included: James Gilway, Searsport Town Manager, Nicki Kent, member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from Rhode Island working on wind development, Sam Moss, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) apprenticeship program, and Grant Provost, Vice President of Maine AFL-CIO.
Gilway, Cuddy and Provost all served on the Off Shore Wind Roadmap Advisory Committee. MLCC members and MCV members were also there.
The intent of the meeting was to present the benefit to labor of developing OSW in Searsport. Cuddy consistently stated that the MLCC is agnostic about where the development is located. Most of the presentation was about training union workers and the financial benefit to them and the community becoming apprentices and then full members of the union would provide.
The audience appeared broadly supportive of supporting and augmenting trades training. Provost said that there are 10-to-20 AFL-CIO members located already in the area. Provost predicted that there will be ”hundreds” of local Searsport jobs – while the number of state wide jobs was predicted to eventually be upwards of 60,000. No data supporting these predictions accompanied the talk.
When asked about a Community Benefits Agreement, Gilway said that discussions have begun but was not able to provide details. Gilway talked about the boost to Searsport that a port would bring, including increasing the school population. The three Searsport schools have a capacity of 1,200 and but currently have only approximately 400 children enrolled. Apparently, within a few years funding for the schools could be withdrawn. Housing was not mentioned. The select board is working on a CBA. Gilway also reminded the audience that recent changes in municipal land use ordinances enabled Mack Point to be a candidate for the port.
In a side-bar conversation not part of the program itself, Jack Shapiro from the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) said that his organization remains neutral on the location but the port MUST be built. Apparently NRCM solicited comment from “experts” on the Mack Point Sprague Low-Impact Plan (see below). Shapiro reported that those experts did not think it was a good layout – the test array could be built there but they would need to expand to SI for full production. However, he did not offer an explanation as to why it was not a good layout.
Concerns were raised about the total cost of the development now projected to be between $500 and $700 million. MDOT submitted a grant application to the Federal Highway Administration for $400M, indicating that the state would raise the remainder from other state, federal and private sector sources. Provost noted that in a similar facility in California the total was $800M and $400M was picked up by a corporation, presumably for Carbon credits.
Only when a former lobsterman from Friendship, Dustin Delano, spoke did the crowd erupt into applause. Delano is the founder of New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Foundation. He pointedly asked Cuddy why, if MLCC is agnostic about where the port is developed, he had testified in favor of LD 2266. Cuddy said that LD2266 would leave Sears Island on the table if it passed, thereby making Sears Island impossible to develop.
Delano said his group from South Portland has decided to support the effort to preserve Sears Island because of the resources we need to protect the Gulf of Maine to continue having a fishery.
Four NRCM representatives were identified in the audience. The Maine Labor Climate Council is a coalition of Maine labor unions.
By Becky Bartovics, with contributions from Nickie Sekera and Janet Williams
Alliance for Sears Island 