AUGUSTA

The Marine Resources Committee held a public hearing Wednesday in Augusta on a bill that would require decibel limits for mechanical rockweed harvesters.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Joyce “Jay” McCreight, D-Harpswell. Sens. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, Everett “Brownie” Carson, D-Brunswick, and Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, are among the legislation’s co-sponsors.

McCreight told The Times Record last week that the bill arose from residents’ concerns over the summer about the noise made by the mechanical rockweed harvesters.

Similar complaints by a few Cundy’s Harbor residents ultimately resulted in a panel discussion in August 2016 hosted by Source, Inc., the rockweed harvesting company that operates in Harpswell. More than a dozen industry leaders, regulators and researchers gathered to address noise complaints as well as environmental concerns.

Source Inc. has been harvesting rockweed in the Harpswell area for more than 40 years, and using mechanical harvesters for the last 10 or so. Once harvested, the rockweed is transported to a facility in Connecticut where it is packaged and sold as nutritional supplement products for horses, dogs and people. Other rockweed harvesters in Maine, located mostly Down- east, harvest rockweed for fertilizer.

The mechanical harvesters, which General Manager Greg Tobey affectionately refers to as “lawn mowers on pontoon boats,” cut the rockweed above the mandated 16-inch height and collect it in large bags. The machines sometimes work close to shore and at times near residences, harvesting the same areas for hours at a time and often for multiple days. In August, Cundy’s Harbor resident Eddy Page told The Times Record that Source harvesters spent several days collecting the rockweed in front of his home, and he measured the harvesters noise level at 70 decibels from shore.

McCreight’s bill specifically addresses the noise complaints voiced by residents at the August meeting. Her bill, LD 199, would require the Marine Resources commissioner to set decibel limits on mechanical rockweed harvesters.

Lawmaker testimony

In her testimony in support of the bill, McCreight stated that her intention was to support both her constituents that complained about the noise and the company harvesting the rockweed.

“It only attempts to address the noise concern, so that relations between the companies and people involved in harvesting rockweed and the nearby neighbors can improve, to the benefit of both groups,” said McCreight, adding later that her aim was “peaceful coexistence.”

Testifying in opposition to the bill, Commissioner Patrick Keliher of the Department of Marine Resources said that he hoped the matter could be rectified without a change to the law. He noted that the company was already taking steps to reduce the noise of their machines and address complaints that had been made.

“Source has committed to working over the winter to mitigate the sound of their equipment,” said Keliher. “Ideally, Source will rectify the problems with their equipment and this won’t be an ongoing issue.”

The bill’s impact

On a practical note, he added that the department had “no experience identifying, implementing and enforcing appropriate decibel levels.” The department was also worried about what sort of precedent the bill might set.

“Maine’s coast remains by and large a working waterfront, and many of our state’s policies are aimed at keeping it so. The department is concerned with setting the precedent of limiting the noise created by commercial activity on the water,” said Keliher.

Source Inc. making changes

In separate testimony, representatives from Source Inc. explained that despite efforts to make their harvesters quieter, including installing an additional muffler to the machines, they have decided to replace their current machines. According to founder and president of Source Inc. Susan Domizi, the company is investing “tens of thousands of dollars” in a new, quieter mechanical harvester.

“We are working on, right now, a new harvester,” said Tobey. “This boat will be tremendously different than its predecessor which has an air-cooled engine. The new boat will have a water-cooled engine — inherently that will be much quieter.”

Tobey outlined a number of other technical changes the company is making to the new mechanical harvesters to decrease noise. The company hopes to replace one of their two machines with the new quieter harvester around June, and the other machine at an undesignated future point.

“We do care, and we are doing everything that we can,” said Bonnie Tobey, operations manager for Source Inc.’s Maine branch. “We really want a good working relationship with our neighbors on the water.”

nstrout@timesrecord.com

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