Pierce Atwood's Environmental Practice Group Helps BIW Deliver US Navy Ships

In 2011 Pierce Atwood represented Bath Iron Works, Corp. (BIW) before the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine to preserve the ability of BIW's ships to safely transit the Kennebec River from Bath to the Atlantic Ocean. Several non-governmental organizations and individuals had appealed to the BEP, challenging the dredging permit issued to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the Acting DEP Commissioner. They argued that only minimal dredging was needed in August 2011 to allow passage of the U.S. Navy Destroyer, U.S.S. Spruance, on September 1, and that dredging needed for passage of other ships could wait until wintertime – if it is needed at all. The problem with those arguments is that minimal dredging would pose a significant safety risk to the Spruance, and that delaying maintenance dredging until wintertime would result in significant additional costs and the potential that the Corps would not conduct that dredging at all – leaving BIW without assurances that its other ships would have adequate safe passage.

Pierce Atwood represented BIW before the BEP, which upheld the DEP Commissioner's permit at a meeting on July 21, 2011. Pierce Atwood also represented BIW before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, which issued an order on July 29, 2011 denying the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the planned dredge, thus allowing the dredge to proceed in August as scheduled. The successful completion of this critical dredge project ensures BIW can continue to navigate Bath-built ships down the Kennebec River as it has for 125 years.