Rod Mcallaster milks 80 cows twice a day on his Stewartstown farm, but he’ll be heading south to Concord next Friday to a Northern Pass hearing to testify that he was indeed featured in a video opposed to the project.
State regulators ruled against Northern Pass and ordered the video be shown at the adjudicative hearings, but said all 10 people featured in it must be available for cross-examination as lawyers for the project had insisted.
It will be quite an outing for the 65-year-old Mcallaster. This will be his first trip to Concord; he’s been too busy with the farm and chores to have ever driven farther south than Littleton.
“The whole project in general stinks,” Mcallaster said in a phone interview Friday night. “Having to go down there is small price to pay if we can stop it.”
So he and nine other people who are featured in the 21-minute video called “Negative Impacts of the Northern Pass Transmission Line” will journey south for Friday’s adjudicative hearing on Northern Pass’ application before the Site Evaluation Committee subcommittee hearing the case.
They don’t really have a choice.
John Harrigan, left, and Brad Thompson, are pictured in a screen shot from Tim Shellmer’s video.
Northern Pass attorneys opposed showing the video at the adjudicative hearings, but subcommittee chairman Martin Honigberg issued an order earlier this week clarifying a prior ruling.
“The Applicant acknowledges that its motion to strike the video was denied, but argues that the video should not be shown during the adjudicative hearings,” Honigberg wrote. “The Applicant argues that, similar to pre-filed testimony, to promote timely and orderly conduct of these proceedings, the Subcommittee should independently review the video and limit the Intervenors’ testimony during adjudicatory hearings to cross-examination.”
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