The Maine Small Business Coalition, representing more than 3,400 small businesses in Maine, opposes the construction of the East-West Corridor. As small business owners, we favor economic development that works for our shops as well as our customers, and the proposed corridor does neither. In reviewing research about and conversations in the state legislature regarding this proposal, it is apparent that the East-West highway would cause significant environmental distress while creating significant financial benefit solely for large corporate entities who will use the corridor to exploit natural resources and send the profits out-of-state. In short, small business interests—sustainable development, environmental protection, and limiting the influence of large corporations in politics—are not represented in the East-West Corridor proposal, and MSBC opposes its construction.

See also www.mainesmallbusiness.org/

Petition to the State of Maine

We, the undersigned citizens of Garland, Maine, and the surrounding communities, hereby petition the legislature of the State of Maine, the Governor of Maine, the Cianbro Corporation, and all other entities involved to stop all present and future plans for the so-called East/West Highway- Transportation/Communications/Utilities Corridor.

We, the citizens of Garland, Maine, and the surrounding communities, do not want the so-called East/West Corridor to pass through our towns, or any other Maine towns. We see no benefit to the Garland area for this proposed private corporate-controlled corridor. Garland is a small, rural, agricultural town, and we like it that way. That's why we live here. We have pristine natural resources, farms, gardens, woodlots, gravel beds, and fresh water. We do not want to see our natural resources exploited or destroyed. We have seven streams that feed the headwaters of the Kenduskeag Stream, spawning grounds of federally protected Atlantic Salmon, and we do not want our watersheds polluted. We do not want high-tension power lines or cell towers, both shown to be harmful to human health, to pass through our towns. We do not want gas or tar sands oil or any other kinds of pipelines to pass through our towns. We do not want a fenced four-lane 500-foot wide highway/ corridor, with an estimated thousands of tandem diesel trucks per day, to pass through our towns. We do not want to see our towns and the State of Maine cut in half for the profit of Canadian, Chinese, or other foreign multi- national corporations. We do not want our property values, which are our livelihoods and our retirements, to be destroyed. We are not the so-called "hollow middle" of the State of Maine; we do not crave "development" at the expense of our cherished way of life. And we do not want to be bullied and terrorized by the Cianbro Corporation or by the State of Maine. With this petition we demand that the Maine Legislature, the Governor, and the Cianbro Corporation stop all present and future plans for the East/West Highway-Transportation/Communications/Utilities Corridor.

Concerned Citizens of Garland Committee --- (contact [email protected])

The town of Charleston passed this resolution opposing the EWC at its March 8th, 2014, town meeting:

A Resolution to Oppose the Passage of an East West Corridor Through the Town of Charleston

Whereas the Corporation as of December 2013 was still actively planning an East West Corridor,
Whereas the Corporation's latest declaration of a possible route stated it would cross Route 15 north of the Bacon Road in Charleston,
Whereas the CEO stated during a 2013 Penobscot County Commissioner's hearing that the Corporation would avoid passing through any town that opposes the East West Corridor,
Whereas the Town of Charleston voted 86 to 20 in favor of a Moratorium Ordinance regarding private corridors, to include paved highways, pipelines, and high tension transmission lines in June 2013, and
Whereas the Town of Charleston's Selectmen voted to extend the moratorium in November 2013 through to June 16, 2014.

Therefore, be it Resolved that the residents of the Town of Charleston oppose an East West Corridor passing through the Town of Charleston.

MAINE BUSINESSES AGAINST
THE EAST-WEST HIGHWAY/CORRIDOR

With the proposal pending for the construction of a 220 mile long highway across the State of Maine (from Calais to Coburn Gore), there is concern about the potential harm that could be done to hundreds of small businesses, communities, and families along the current east-west routes. Based on documented impacts in other communities of the "bypass effect," I am requesting that this project be stopped immediately.
I, ___________________, owner of ________________, oppose the proposed East-West Highway. I request from our Legislature, Governor and state agencies that the publicly funded study for the private highway be cancelled and the impacts to rural Maine communities be evaluated by third party experts before any further consideration of this project. I also request oversight from the Legislature of all proceedings relating to this private East-West Highway proposal.
___________________________________ Name, owner of Maine small business
___________________________________ Business name
___________________________________ Address and phone number
___________________________________ Email, Web site

• You have permission to use my name and business name only for the purposes of this campaign. For more information, please call 207-358-9891.

Please mail to Chuck Peabody, Small Business Leader, MBATH/C, P.O. Box 135, Kents Hill, ME 04349

Say No to the East-West --- at signon.org
Stop the East-West C. --- at The Petition Site
Stop the East-West C. --- at change.org