Widewaters’ mitigation plan studied

The long-standing battle over the Widewaters plan to build an enormous Wal-Mart Supercenter next to Bangor’s unique Penjajawoc Marsh has entered a new and complex phase with a proposed “conservation” plan for the marsh. As part of the state’s ongoing environmental review process, the Widewaters developer has submitted a plan which is intended as mitigation to compensate for habitat lost due to their proposed development.

Contrary to the impression given in recent news reports, although Widewaters has asked the city of Bangor to agree to hold the proposed conservation easement, right of way (access easement) and deed to a one acre-parcel, this mitigation package has not been approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Along with the rest of the lengthy Widewaters site application, the easements will be considered by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection during its public hearing, scheduled for the last week in June.

The proposed “mitigation” plan submitted by Widewaters to the city last month has two distinct parts: a long, narrow right of way and access easement which extends from Stillwater Avenue up to a one-acre parcel close to the marsh on the Kittredge Road side; and a 30-acre conservation easement on the Essex Street-Gilman Road side of the marsh, just above the railroad bed.

The right-of-way portion of the easement and the one-acre parcel at the end of it seem like a good idea at first, since they appear to provide much-desired access by the public to the marsh for recreational purposes. However, unlike a carefully designed limited-access plan which could be compatible with preservation of the marsh area, the agreement on this access easement and deed would allow a paved road and paved parking lot, right next to the marsh, further threatening the area. In fact, the right-of-way access easement is an environmental

Trojan horse which looks enticing at first glance, but actually promotes the undoing of any meaningful protection for the wildlife and habitat of the marsh ecosystem.

The right-of-way easement plan would also allow the extension of gas, water, telephone, electric

and other utility lines along the length of this corridor, and provides $30,000 in funds to upgrade the access bridge over the Penjajawoc Stream. All this facilitates future commercial development in this area.

In combination with the proposed “parallel access road” from Gilman to Kittredge Road, described by environmentalists as “the kiss of death” for the marsh, this access easement is one more step toward a “Penjajawoc Mall” populated by automobiles rather than by wildlife. Greatly increased access directly into the marsh by cars, trucks, all-terrain vehicles and other motorized vehicles seems inconsistent with protection of fragile wildlife habitat, and is certainly not responsible development.

The second part of Widewaters’ proposed mitigation agreement is a planned conservation easement on 30 acres of land running along the edge of the Penjajawoc Marsh on the Essex Street side, just above the old railroad bed. The additional protection offered in this deal is not really as good as it sounds, however. More than half of this acreage would already be protected by the 250-foot wetlands protection buffer outlined in Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife guidelines, so the additional protection afforded by this easement is actually only about 12 to 14 acres. While this could be a valuable piece of a larger conservation plan, it does not begin to compensate for irrevocably altering the entire 28.6-acre upland site where the developer wants to build the Wal-Mart Supercenter, and permanently destroying its wildlife habitat value.

Widewaters’ mitigation package forces one to question the very concept of mitigation. The term suggests that a developer can make up for damage caused in one place by “protecting” land some place else. How can a small amount of conservation easement a little upstream from a massive superstore open 24 hours a day, and a right of way that facilitates future commercial development and allows vehicular access, be considered adequate mitigation? Can it possibly compensate for the permanent loss of the unique qualities that make the Penjajawoc Marsh, at the present time, one of the top significant marshes in the state, according to the MDIF&W? We hope the city, the Board of Environmental Protection and other relevant agencies will take a hard and close look at this mitigation package.

The Bangor City Council plans to consider the question of whether to accept these proposed easements and deed at its meeting today, and may also discuss it in a workshop beforehand. We suggest that anyone interested in this issue get a copy of the proposed easements, deed and right of way for themselves, read it carefully, and let their city councilors know what they think of it. Both BACORD (Bangor Area Citizens Organized for Responsible Development) and the Maine Audubon Society will be working hard over the next few weeks to prepare for the BEP hearings on this project, as intervenors in the BEP process. For more information on how you can help, please call 947-0607, or write BACORD at 43 Columbia St., Suite 32, Bangor 04401.

Valerie J. Carter wrote this commentary on behalf of the BACORD Steering Committee.