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STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
16 STATE HOUSE STATION
AUGUSTA, MAINE
04333-0016
LEGAL SERVICES Tel: (207) 624-3020 Fax: (207) 624-3021
MDOT TTY Telephone #287-339
November 5, 2003
Andrew S. Hagler, Esq.
Law Office of Andrew S. Hagler, L.L.C.
Fort Andross, 14 Maine Street
Post Office Box N
Brunswick, Maine 04011
Re: Maine Department of Transportation's Response To Freedom of Access Request Concerning Liquid Natural Gas Terminals
Dear Attorney Hagler:
I am in receipt of your Freedom of Access Law Request dated October 24, 2003. MeDOT has made a good faith effort to gather the information requested and will provide access to same except for the following:
1. Certain portions of Maine Port Authority notes that do not reference the Fair Winds Project or parties related thereto have been blackened out. These notes concern other proposed projects in which the Port Authority may participate. The above redactions are made consistent with the prohibition of disclosing trade secrets or confidential commercial information pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 402 (3) A. B. and F; Rule 26(c) (7) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 507 of the Maine Rules of Evidence. Additionally, the State's mental process and deliberative process protection is invoked regarding this document.
2. Certain portions of the three pages of notes authored by Brian Nutter, Executive Director of the Maine Port Authority, have been blackened out. The redactions do not reference the Fair Winds Project or parties related thereto and concern proposed projects in which the Port Authority may participate. The above redactions are made consistent with the prohibition of disclosing trade secrets or confidential commercial information pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 402 (3) A. B. and F; Rule 26(c) (7) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 507 of the Maine Rules of Evidence. Additionally, the State's mental process and deliberative process protection is invoked regarding this document.
3. Two documents are not provided which total eight pages and sixteen pages submitted by R.K. ALFF & Associates dated August 26, 2003 regarding a development project not involving Harpswell, the proposed Fair Winds Project or the parties related
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thereto. The above denial is consistent with the prohibition of disclosing trade secrets or confidential commercial information pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 402 (3) A. B. and F; Rule 26(c) (7) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 507 of the Maine Rules of Evidence. Additionally, the State's mental process and deliberative process protection is invoked regarding this document. _
4. Two pages of a three page document dated August 25, 2003, from Jack Cashman, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development to Commissioner David Cole, Maine DOT are not provided. The redactions do not reference the Fair Winds Project or parties related thereto and concern proposed projects in which the two Departments may participate. On the provided page, all references to other proposed developments have been blackened out with the exception of a reference to the Fair Winds Project. The above denial is consistent with the prohibition of disclosing trade secrets or confidential commercial information pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 402 (3) A. B. and F; Rule 26(c) (7) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and Rule 507 of the Maine Rules of Evidence. Additionally, the State's mental process and deliberative process protection is invoked regarding this document.
Please feel free to call my secretary, Barbi Rolfe, who will arrange for a mutually convenient time for you to review the records that you requested that are in MaineDOT's possession. If I may be of any assistance in this regard, please do not , hesitate to call.
Sincerely, James E Smith
Chief Counsel
JES/bsr
cc:
Hon. John E. Baldacci, Governor
Hon. G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General .
Treasurer Dale McCormick
Commissioner Jack Cashman, Dept. of Economic & Community Development
Commissioner Dawn R. Gallagher, Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commissioner Roland Martin, Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
Commissioner George D. Lapointe, Dept. of Marine Resources
Commissioner David A. Cole, Department of Transportation
Chairman Thomas L. Welch, Public Utilities Commission
Director Martha Freeman, State Planning Office
Director Arthur W. Cleaves, Maine Emergency Management Agency
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