ROCKLAND, Maine — October 24, 2013 — A century ago, Rockland Harbor’s bustling lime industry meant that lots of boats needed to load and unload boats at the North End to fill the hungry kilns, with navigation so important that the waterway was designated a federal channel.
Those days have long gone, but the designation — and the limitations it imposes — remain. And that has thrown a monkey wrench into the business operations of the O’Hara Corp., a company that has been located on the waterfront for decades. Company officials wanted to continue to moor a semipermanent barge in the channel near Front Street to which they tie up herring boats for lobster bait, but to do so would require an act of Congress.
On Wednesday night, they got that. The House of Representatives voted 417-3 to approve the 2013 Water Resources Reform and Development Act, a bipartisan bill that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop, maintain and support the needs of the country’s ports and waterways. The bill had already been approved by the Senate on an 83-14 vote. Its co-sponsors included U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud. The bill contains several provisions that will affect Maine, including modifying the federal channel in Rockland Harbor.
“I think the change of channel is going to benefit us,” Paul McFarland, the general manager of O’Hara Corp., said Tuesday. “It will enable us to operate a little more easily.”
Pingree said she and Michaud were happy to help the company, which she described as a key part of the working waterfront and fishing community in Rockland that makes a big contribution to the local economy.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News