38 M.R.S. § 658

When any person or corporation shall have decided to erect a dam across a nonnavigable stream under this chapter or under special authority granted by the Legislature, and shall have filed the specifications required by Title 35, section 11 , and it appears that standing timber or other property of value upon the land intended to be flowed will constitute a menace to the safety of such person or corporation or to persons or property upon and along the banks of said stream below the intended location of said dam, the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction, upon complaint of such person or corporation, to authorize said plaintiff to remove and sell such timber or other property and to order the payment to the owner thereof of the gross proceeds of such sale and such further sum, if any, as said court shall deem just. Said court shall require the plaintiff to furnish security for such payment and for an additional penalty not less than double the amount to be received from such sale and shall include in its decree a condition that such additional sum shall be paid to said owner as damages if the dam is not completed and the land flowed within a time to be therein specified. Such time may be extended for good cause shown.