Dear Editor:

The Cuckolds Council's proposal to run a pipeline for sewage, electricity and water from the Cuckolds through historic Newagen Harbor to the Newagen Inn literally stinks.

The pipeline would run 5,000 feet across the sea floor, through the harbor’s tight and busy eastern channel, across the length of the harbor, and over tidal flats to a new septic tank several hundred feet inland on the Inn grounds.

Newagen Harbor is a working fishery and a hub of recreational activity in summer. Running sewage pipes and electricity cables the length of the harbor is risky. The proposal suggests meters could be installed to indicate if and when the pipeline springs a leak. But that will be too late! And above the waterline we are promised large signs on both sides of the entrance to the harbor and a plastic and cement pipeline crossing tidal flats at several points. Photos in the proposal highlight how ugly and noticeable the pipeline will be.

But above all the plan stinks because it will benefit so few. What started out as an exciting historic reconstruction project has taken an oddly commercial turn. Despite many promises, the Cuckolds Council has not rebuilt the keeper’s house to historical standards. Their own plan admits that “as rebuilt, the National Parks Service and Maine Historic Preservation Commission have determined the boathouse and keeper’s house do not meet the standards for reconstruction.” How sad. All those volunteer hours and contributions of material, and for what?

Neighboring historic islands like Seguin and Damariscove don’t need sewage, electricity and water hookups to welcome the many hundreds of daytrippers who visit them every summer. Why should the Cuckolds? The council doesn’t need a pipeline to support educational, historical, conservation or community needs; they need it to run a high-end bed and breakfast and “party deck” reserved for a fortunate few.

This is not what the Cuckolds Council raised money for, and certainly not what the Newagen community believed was going to become of the historic Cuckolds light. In the past, the Cuckolds Council mismanaged its finances. Now it wants Newagen Harbor to take its sewage, and that stinks. 

Margaret Meserve
Newagen