BDN, Quoddy Tides sue tribe for LNG right-to-know access

MACHIAS – The Bangor Daily News and the Quoddy Tides, a twice-weekly newspaper published out of Eastport, have jointly filed a lawsuit in Washington County Superior Court against the Passamaquoddy Tribe over right-to-know issues.

Reporters for both newspapers were denied their requests to the Passamaquoddy Tribe under the Maine Freedom of Access act for records concerning a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on the tribe’s land at Pleasant Point.

The papers’ complaints note that by bringing the first LNG facility to Washington County, the tribe is acting in a municipal capacity, beyond the bounds of internal tribal matters.

The tribe has failed to respond to the newspapers’ requests for records detailing their agreements with Quoddy Bay LLC, an Oklahoma outfit behind the LNG plan.

Reporters Diana Graettinger of the BDN and Marie Holmes of the Quoddy Tides also have been denied access to meetings of the Tribal Council, at which the LNG facility has been discussed, on the grounds that they are not members of the tribe.

Bernard Kubetz of Eaton Peabody in Bangor, the attorney for the BDN, is hopeful that the matter will be heard in early October.

The decision to file a Freedom of Access complaint came after a series of exchanges from May through August between the reporters and the tribe.

Both newspapers have reported extensively in the last 15 months on the tribe’s proposal to develop the LNG facility.

Last May, when the Tribal Council held a meeting to discuss the LNG proposal at the tribal office, Holmes attempted to attend. She was informed that she was not permitted because she was not a member of the tribe, according to the complaint.

She complied and did not attend. She was barred from receiving firsthand information about the activities and decision-making process of the Tribal Council “on an issue that has a profound effect on the entire region,” the complaint reads.

On June 28, both Holmes and the Quoddy Tides’ publisher, Edward French, sent separate letters pursuant to the Maine Freedom of Access Act to Tribal Gov. Melvin Francis.

French requested that reporters for the Quoddy Tides be given access “to all Tribal meetings that pertain to any discussions about [LNG] and-or Quoddy Bay LLC and its agents Donald Smith, Brian Smith, Jim Mitchell, W. Stuart Price [and its attorneys].”

The Smiths are a father-son team of Oklahomans who have been the public faces behind Quoddy Bay LLC as they seek approval for their project beyond the Pleasant Point reservation.

Mitchell and Price are the quieter partners in the LNG project. A Maine state government lobbyist, Mitchell of Augusta is also a second cousin of Gov. John Baldacci.

Price is an Oklahoma oil developer who was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in 1994. His wife, Linda Mitchell Price, is a niece of former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell.

Graettinger of the BDN also sent a letter to Francis on June 28 with a request similar to that of the Quoddy Tides. She asked for “access to and copies of all records, correspondence, lease agreements and other documents relating to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point …”

“The public has an urgent need [to know] because the proposed project by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Oklahoma company has far-reaching impacts beyond the reservation land and will affect residents in the surrounding communities,” Graettinger wrote.

Francis responded to both newspapers’ letters on July 14.

“As you are aware,” Francis addressed the two media outlets in separate letters, “we do not allow non-tribal members into our meetings and will not begin to do so. This is a long-standing tradition in our community.”

Both the BDN and the Quoddy Tides sent additional letters to the tribe on Aug. 25. Francis has not yet responded to those, according to the complaint.

Efforts to reach Francis on Monday were unsuccessful.

The two newspapers are seeking the right to inspect and copy public records under the Maine Freedom of Access Act, and have appealed their denials by the tribe to the court.

They also seek a declaration from the court that all meetings of the Passamaquoddy Tribe or its Tribal Council at which the possible development of an LNG facility is discussed, must be made open to the general public, “without distinction based on tribal membership.”