January 2015 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. Minutes from the December Port Safety Forum
Date: December 10, 2014 Location: U. Maine Hutchinson Center, Belfast, ME 04915 Introductions – The meeting was called to order at 10:00 by the Port Safety Forum Co-Chair John Henshaw of the Maine Port Authority with Captain Brian Gilda as the Co-Chair representing the Coast Guard. A quorum was comprised of 32 individuals. Review and Approval of the September 17, 2014 Port Safety Forum Meeting Min- utes – Hearing no amendments or objections to the content of the September 17, 2014 minutes, Mr. Henshaw accepted the minutes as approved. The Eastport Breakwater col- lapse incident was added to the agenda. Eastport Breakwater Incident – Brian
Downey, PSF Coordinator - Mr. Downey provided a brief regarding the catastrophic collapse of the Eastport Breakwater. The breakwater is comprised of an early 1960s structure constructed with fi ll with an adja- cent external structure on pilings build in the 1980s. At 0200 on December 4 the fi lled structure began to collapse causing the fi ll and other major debris to fall into the water landing on moored vessels below. The struc- ture continued to erode during the day leav- ing approximately ½ of the inside face of the breakwater collapsed. Fortunately, there were no major injuries with only one person taken to Calais Hospital, who was treated and released. Several vessels were impacted including the Eastport pilot boat, MEDRIC 2 (sunk with debris including a truck), the schooner ADA C. LORE (heavily damaged structure and rigging), and one other fi shing vessel. All fi shing vessels were temporarily relocated across the inner portion of the harbor. The Coast Guard, which also uses the facility for their response boats, did not suffer any damage. The incident did not result in any signifi cant pollution although MEDRIC 2 had between 200-300 gallons of fuel aboard at the time of sinking. ADA C. LORE also had fuel aboard with was removed as a precaution. The Coast Guard established an Incident Management Team and dispatched several senior staff on site to
assist in the response. The Coast Guard also opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to access up to $100,000 in oil spill response funds as a contingency. MEDRIC 2 was eventually refl oated but is a total loss. The pilots have secured an alternate local vessel as a temporary pilot boat. A temporary har- bor is now being built in Broad Cove as an interim facility. Searsport Dredging Project Update –
John Henshaw, Maine Port Authority – Mr. Henshaw offered a brief regarding the status of the Searsport dredging approval. He explained that the U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers (USACE) plans to complete supple- mental testing by February. Once complete and the results are known, a Water Quality Certifi cation application will be submitted to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This submission will be- gin what is expected to be a six to nine month review by DEP. Assuming the application is successful, the project would then advance to the Civil Works Review Board in Wash- ington, DC for their review and approval. Once that review is complete, the project would come back to Maine for fi nal sign off. At that point, the project would still require authorization and appropriation by the U.S. Congress.
Climate Change Adaption Study – Bill DeLong, DHS Mr. DeLong, DHS Offi ce of Infrastructure Protection, provided a brief regarding the Regional Resiliency Assessment Program which examined Climate Change Adaptation. The program establishes an analytic baseline for assessing climate change issues in our region with an emphasis on the impacts of climate change on four lifeline critical infrastructure sectors (energy, water quality, transportation, and communications). The assessment’s pre- liminary fi ndings suggest that our regional energy infrastructure has vulnerabilities. In particular, coastal electrical infrastructure including transmission is susceptible to fl ood and storm surge damage. Further, water quality is at risk due to potentially increased storm run-off into lakes/ponds/
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watershed areas as well as increased salinity in coastal aquifers, all of which could impact drinking water. Examining transportation impacts, increased storm surge could fl ood low lying bridges and causeways impacting vehicle and rail transportation infrastruc- ture. Pier and mooring facilities are also susceptible to fl ood and storm surge impacts particularly in the Port of Portland. Looking at temperature changes associated with cli- mate change, communication infrastructure is at risk to ice damage to cell towers and communication facilities.
Moving forward, DHS and other part- ner agencies (EPA, NOAA, FEMA, Maine DEP, DOT and USACOE) will continue to study climate change and its impact on the critical infrastructure of the coastal commu-
nity. They will assess the power grid and engage with the National Renewable Energy Lab to evaluate Maine’s renewable energy road map. They will complete a coastal aqui- fer saltwater intrusion study and develop a critical infrastructure adaptation planning workbook.
See the graphic above for a visual repre- sentation of potential coastal fl ood impacts. The graphics are a preliminary analysis and do not account for fl ooding due to freshwa- ter rainfall events. Furthermore, the models shown below are being refi ned with input from local stakeholders to ensure that crit- ical structures such as culverts and bridges are identifi ed. Do not use the models below
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