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Sierra Club Joins Local Groups in Opposing Trucking Superhighway in Maine Woods
Case Updates:
May 23, 2012
Sierra Club is opposing a proposed $2 billion superhighway that would carry truck traffic between New Brunswick and Quebec, through the heart of Maine’s North Woods.
The proposed highway would devastate Maine communities, environment and private property owners without any real benefit to Maine itself, said Karen Woodsum of the Sierra Club Maine Woods Campaign. The Sierra Club chapter is being supported in their efforts by the Environmental Law Program.
The latest concept calls for a 220-mile truck highway extending from the Maine communities of Calais in the east to Coburn Gore at the border with Quebec. Private investors would bankroll the project, with estimated costs in the range of $2 billion, and maintain it with tolls paid by trucking companies.
Much of the traffic would be Canadian truckers moving their products from the Maritime Provinces to Quebec and Midwestern points, proponents say.
Club members have joined a groundswell of local groups and residents in opposing the proposed highway.
Sierra Club members don’t oppose broadening Maine’s industrial base, but see many problems that the highway would create, including harm to water quality, wetlands, critical wildlife habitat, local communities, and public recreational lands.
The Club will meet on May 17 to discuss assembling a study that would show how revitalizing a cross-state rail line would create the same economic benefits as a highway, while avoiding the serious harms associated with a superhighway through the heart of the Maine Woods.
Details and Documents:
News Articles:
Sierra Club opposes east-west highway in Maine
May 8, 2012 by Nick Sambides Jr., Bangor Daily News
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