Editing Cobscook Bay (section)

==History==
[[File:Eastport Museum Quoddy Dam Project Exhibit 16 31 46 151000.jpeg|thumb|Eastport Museum Quoddy Dam Project Exhibit|right]]
Communities around the bay were traditionally involved in shipbuilding, logging, farming, fishing and trading.<ref name=CoC/>

In 1935, a proposal by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]] friend and engineer Dexter Cooper<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/03/96793502.pdf|title=D. P. COOPER DEAD; 'QUODDY'S' FATHER; Engineer Who Sponsored Vast Power Project a Leading Hydraulic Expert|access-date=2018-08-07|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20090908/CURRENTEDITION/309089998/surging-ahead-%7C-wind-power's-not-the-only-game-in-town-portland's-orpc-is-making-waves-with-its-tidal-energy-technology|title=Surging ahead {{!}} Wind power's not the only game in town. Portland's ORPC is making waves with its tidal energy technology.|work=Mainebiz|access-date=2018-08-07|language=en-US}}</ref> to build a [[Barrage (dam)|barrage]] to harness the power of the tides in the area was inititiated. The Quoddy Dam Project was envisaged to impound the waters of Cobscook Bay and the adjoining Passamaquoddy Bay. Construction was started and some dikes were built, but a year later, the [[United States Congress]] withdrew its support and funding and the scheme was abandoned. The Quoddy Dam Model Museum at Eastport preserves a large model of the project.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=Museum>{{cite web |url=http://www.borderhistoricalsociety.com/quoddydammusuem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226103615/http://www.borderhistoricalsociety.com/quoddydammusuem.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 26, 2012 |title=Quoddy Dam Model Museum  |publisher=Border Historical Society |accessdate=December 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/us/turbine-to-harness-the-tides-to-generate-power.html|title=Turbine to Harness the Tides to Generate Power|last=Bidgood|first=Jess|access-date=2018-08-07|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newengland.com/yankee-magazine/travel/maine/eastport-maine-tidal-project/|title=Eastport, Maine Tidal Project|website=newengland.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/f-d-r-s-brief-dip-into-tidal-energy/|title=F.D.R.'s Brief Dip Into Tidal Energy|last=Fountain|first=Henry|work=Green Blog|access-date=2018-08-07|language=en}}</ref>

The generation of electricity from the bay's tidal currents was ultimately accomplished in September 2012 by [[Ocean Renewable Power Company]].<ref name=Woodard2>{{cite news |title=Maine tidal turbine goes online, first in North America |author=Woodard, Colin |url=http://www.pressherald.com/ORPC-turbine-off-Eastport-is-the-first-to-do-so-in-North-America.html  |newspaper=Portland Press Herald |date=September 13, 2012 |accessdate=January 1, 2013}}</ref> A turbine was installed in Cobscook Bay at the boundary of Eastport and Lubec capable of generating 180&nbsp;kW of electricity, and was the first North American commercial tidal energy project to supply power to the electrical grid.<ref name=Woodard2/> The turbines did not need dams to function and were mounted on the sea bed. The turbine blades spin slowly in the current and testing seems to indicate they are harmless to marine life. Two more turbines were planned for installation in the bay within a year's time.<ref name=Woodard>{{cite news |title=Maine company leading way as tidal energy comes of age |author=Woodard, Colin |url=http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-company-leading-way-as-tidal-energy-comes-of-age_2012-07-22.html |newspaper=Portland Press Herald |date=July 22, 2012 |accessdate=December 27, 2012}}</ref>