PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will pay more than $18,000 to build a fish passage on the Sheepscot River as part of its settlement for violating environmental rules.
President and CEO William Cullina tells the Portland Press Herald that the Boothbay nonprofit violated state environmental rules because he says it would have taken more than a year to get the necessary approval for minor changes to an expansion plan.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection cited the nonprofit in 2017 for building structures without approval and for filling wetlands.
The expansion included a visitors center, parking and underground utilities.
The nonprofit has completed a restoration plan ordered by the state. It’s also paying $18,629 to the Atlantic Salmon Federation to complete a modification of a dam 20 miles to the north.
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