A request from the attorney for Pleasant Pond Mill LLC, asking that Aquafortis Associates LLC and its representative Paul Kelley be removed from the list of interested parties, has been rejected by the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection.
Attorney Anthony Buxton and the firm of Preti Flaherty represent Pleasant Pond, Aquafortis and Kelley in a dispute over a petition calling on DEP to set the water level for Clary Lake in Whitefield and Jefferson.
In his July 25 letter, Buxton requested that Pleasant Pond be given intervener status in the proceedings that are leading to an Aug. 17 hearing on the matter.
He states that Pleasant Pond owns the dam which is the subject of the water level petition and that the dam is not owned by Aquafortis “or any other person or entity, including Paul Kelley.”
“Mr. Kelley is a managing member of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC and will participate in this matter solely in that capacity,” Buxton wrote.
In denying the request to add Pleasant Pond Mill LLC to the list of interveners, DEP Presiding Officer Heather Parent said it was not appropriate for Pleasant Pond to be given intervener status, since the company is already named as a party on the petition, a status which gives it full rights to “testify, cross examine and otherwise fully participate in the proceedings.”
Parent said evidence submitted to her has indicated that a portion of the property and flowage rights have been conveyed to Aquafortis.
“If Aquafortis Associates, LLC is to be removed as a party, it must provide the Presiding Officer, copying other parties to the proceedings, any evidence indicating that Aquafortis no longer holds the property and flowage rights conveyed to Aquafortis on April 13, 2012,” Parent wrote. She said the evidence must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Mon., Aug. 6.
The water level hearing for Clary Lake takes place Fri., Aug. 17, at 5 p.m. at the Jefferson Fire Dept. A transcript will be made available to those who request one by Aug. 3.
Those wishing to testify or seeking to be informed about further DEP actions should contact Beth Callahan at beth.callahan@maine.gov.