Re: “Americold abandons plan to build cold storage building on Portland waterfront” (June 25):
The 3½ years wasted on fawning over Americold Logistics lay directly at the feet of the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Port Authority. As deputy commissioner of MaineDOT and board chairman of the port authority, Jon Nass should submit his resignation forthwith over the handling of this fiasco. It’s ludicrous that he would attempt to put a positive spin on such an obvious failure to recognize what so many critics pointed out over and over again: Americold’s plans were completely inappropriate for the land available and business requirements to be met.
Gov. LePage should take a hard look at this failure and recognize that although many of his policies have been sound, poor implementation by agency subordinates has led to avoidable failures during his administration. Going forward, Gov. LePage should seek more input from those who understand cold-storage operations in the local market along with those intending to use its services to formulate a plan for realistic development.
Guy E. Torrey
Portland
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