Shellfish project editorial missed the mark

Your Aug. 26 editorial, “Niantic River scallops,” concerning the Niantic River shellfish project, was off the mark. The application has been shrouded in secrecy since it began. There was little or no notice of the Shellfish Commission’s action in approving the lease of 6-plus acres of riverbed, nor was this action approved by the governing bodies of East Lyme or Waterford.

What right does this commission have to lease public lands without securing the approval from the affected towns? Moreover, the Corps of Engineers issued a very ineffectual notice, at least initially not even notifying Waterford, where the project is primarily located. It was only by happenstance that the public became aware of the project, long after many of the critical actions had been taken. Secrecy such as this naturally breeds suspicion and diminishes trust in government.

The editorial makes several assertions not backed by evidence. What support, other than the applicant’s claim, was there for the conclusory statements that the project will “improve the overall water quality also helping to boost the natural shellfish population” or that “it seems like an economic and possibly recreational win for the region”?

The only one who will profit seems to be the applicant.

What evidence backs the remarkable assertion that the legitimate concerns of local residents are “unreasonable suspicions” that “smack of being overly alarmist or simply too much NIMBY-ism at work” and are simply “unjustified complaints”?

As a newspaper, it would seem that The Day should be in favor of open government. Perhaps your function would be better served if you were to support a public hearing on this project so that the true facts may become known, rather than simply labeling such a hearing as an “unwarranted delay.”

Or would you prefer that the public just regard the whole thing as a a done deal? Tom Dennis lives in the Niantic section of East Lyme.