Dear Editor:

Considering that the fishing and lobstering community continues to find itself under duress, and that Maine’s working waterfront continues to shrink, it’s an effective fundraising message to say you will “protect working waterfront.” That’s the daring claim made by Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation (BHWP) on its website.

When will that protection begin?

This tax-exempt organization is in its fourth year of aggressive fundraising and claims to have raised millions. But helping the fishing community has yet to begin. Why?

From what I hear, the big snag is the group’s unwillingness or inability to deal with Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations and town review. After all, the entire development sits within the shoreland zone. The first step in protecting working waterfront is to make sure you’re not polluting the harbor. That’s not an unreasonable request by the town or by the DEP.

BHWP’s board president John O’Connell recently announced in these opinion pages that the development will not open in 2022 and complained that the process of complying with environmental regulations “has been costly with respect to legal fees and time investment.”

Maine’s brand, and especially Boothbay’s Harbor’s brand, is fundamentally built upon the protections we have put in place for our spectacular natural resources. If you’re raising millions to “protect working waterfront,” complaining about having to comply with environmental regulation may not be the smartest strategy.

Christopher P. O’Neil

Portland