US land-based salmon farmer Whole Oceans has has hurdled a legal challenge by one of its opponents. Government officials recently rejected a resident’s plea against the company's proposed land-based salmon farm in rural Maine, reported the Bangor Daily News.

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection ruled that Belfast, Maine, resident Holly Faubel has no standing to appeal the permit granted to Whole Oceans in November to discharge water from the former Verso Paper mill site into the Penobscot River.

The rejection was made on the basis that Faubeldoes not live in proximity to the proposed farm site.

The rejection reduces Faubel’s chances of having conditions imposed upon the farm, the largest business slated for Bucksport, Maine, since Verso laid off 570 workers and closed in 2014.

Whole Oceans plans to expand an initial $75 million investment to eventually employ hundreds of workers in the annual production of 20,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon.

In a filing last week, the company argued that Faubel lacks standing because she lives “approximately 14 miles away from the project site in Bucksport, measuring in a straight line.”