Maine State accepts applications as complete and ready for processing.
In a Facebook post, Nordic Aquafarms (NAF) confirmed that Maine’s Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the City of Belfast (USA) have determined that the land-based salmon farmer’s permit applications are complete and that it has proven sufficient TRI (title, right and interest) – and will proceed with processing the applications.
Nordic Commercial Director Marianne Naess said: “We are looking forward to the project now being reviewed on its merits by the Board of Environmental Protection and the Planning Board in the city of Belfast. This is an important milestone for our project.”
“Permitting may be more challenging in central locations,” she said, “(but) the long-term benefits are significant. While there has been some opposition to the project, we are really encouraged by the strong support the project has received from the authorities, the city and the residents of Belfast.”
“The efforts to achieve such comprehensive applications has been much broader in scope than any effort to date in Maine and in the North East of USA. Nordic Aquafarms has developed the cleanest discharge solutions in the industry with proven technologies to protect the receiving waters. 99% of nutrients are removed and recycled from the residual discharge, with the exception of nitrogen where 85% is removed. Bacteria are also removed through microfiltration to protect the receiving waters. This standard enables scalability to a variety of future locations with minimal ecological impacts,” said NAF president Erik Heim.
The 33,000 tonne RAS farm in Belfast, Maine, is now expected to begin construction this autumn, though that dependant on the pace of permitting process.
