Ruling calls for review of Pike-Idexx agreement
A Maine Supreme Judicial Court judge has called into question an agreement among Westbrook officials, Pike Industries and Idexx, and sent the matter back to the Maine Business and Consumer Court for further review. It's also unclear whether Pike can continue to blast at its quarry until the legal matter is resolved.
Officials from the city and both companies in 2010 reached an agreement to allow Pike to operate its quarry with limitations, and business court Judge Thomas Humphrey approved the consent agreement. But two other companies and interveners in the case -- bio-pharmaceutical firm Artel and Smiling Hill Farm -- appealed Humphrey's decision in December 2010. According to the Portland Press Herald, the supreme court found partially in favor of Artel and Smiling Hill Farm, saying the city could not enforce the operation limitations for Pike without including them in a zoning ordinance or contract zone. The ruling did say, however, that the city had the authority to reach the consent agreement to grandfather Pike's property for quarry operations.
A Pike official told the paper they can continue blasting despite the ruling, but an Artel official said the company must stop its operations until the business court's review is over.
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