Kelley Quoted in Free Press Article on Proposed Searsport Dredging Project

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

July 31, 2015 Climate Change, Research, UMaine in the News

Joseph Kelley, a professor of marine geology in the University of Maine School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Climate Change Institute, was quoted in a Free Press article on a proposed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) dredging project in Searsport. The decision on whether to approve the project to dredge 929,000 cubic yards of bottom sediments from Searsport Harbor is likely to be made by the end of the year after a public hearing this fall, according to the article. The project aims to enlarge the shipping channel and deposit the dredge spoils in the bay six miles away off the tip of Islesboro, the report states. One concern among residents is the dump site, which was chosen by the USACE because it has natural depressions that can be filled with dredge spoils. According to Kelley, the methane that created the pockmarks is still there. He conducted studies of the area two decades ago and advised against dumping dredge spoils at the site when he served as state geologist. Kelley recommended conducting dump tests in the area and tracking resulting sediment plumes to see if they spread, the article states.