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News

  • Northern Pass Plans Appeal to Supreme Court

    July 13, 2018

    CONCORD — Northern Pass officials plan to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court by an Aug. 13 deadline in an effort to jump-start a hydroelectric transmission project that a state committee denied.

    The Site Evaluation Committee on Thursday issued a 72-page written decision that ...

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  • SEC Denies Motion for Rehearing in Writing

    Jack Savage
    July 12, 2018

    The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Commitee (SEC) issued its anticipated written decision denying a Motion for Rehearing requested by Eversource ...

  • Regulators Refuse Northern Pass Reconsideration

    May 25, 2018

    CONCORD — State utility regulators voted 7-0 on Thursday to reject a motion to reconsider their decision turning down the $1.6 billion, 192-mile Northern Pass Transmission project.

    Project developer Eversource wanted the Site Evaluation Committee to vacate its February decision denying ...

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Forest Society Presses Eversource on Environmental Benefits of Burying Northern Pass

by Nancy West, InDepthNH
June 19, 2017
Northern Pass at SEC

CONCORD — Northern Pass’ environmental impacts will take center stage again Tuesday and Friday as the adjudicative hearings continue in front of the state Site Evaluation Committee that will decide whether to approve or deny the project’s application by the end of September.

Attorney Amy Manzelli pressed the project’s environmental panel on Friday about the benefits if the 192-mile transmission line from Pittsburg to Deerfield were completely buried. Sixty miles are buried in the final design of the controversial high-voltage transmission line that would bring electricity from Hydro-Quebec through New Hampshire to the New England grid.

Manzelli, representing the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, insisted the negative impacts on wetlands would be ten times worse with the plan as proposed than if the line were to be completely buried.

And attorney Doreen Connor, representing the Counsel for the Public, questioned the panel about how endangered species will be protected especially during construction.

“You would agree with me this project would have an adverse impact on wetlands, right?” Manzelli asked Lee Carbonneau, one of Northern Pass’ experts and senior principal scientist with Normandeau Associates, the company hired by the project.

Carbonneau: “Yes the project has some impacts to wetlands and I would consider them to be adverse.”

Manzelli: “The question would be whether the adverse impacts would be reasonable or unreasonable and your opinion is that the adverse impacts would be reasonable. Is that a fair statement?”

Carbonneau: “Yes.”

Manzelli asked Carbonneau if she did any wetlands assessment on any alternatives that would have completely buried the transmission line. Carbonneau said she had not.

She did say she looked at two representative portions of I-93 right of way, one of which was in Canterbury and the other farther north.

Manzelli pointed out that the total amount of wetlands impact was more than 6 million square feet and said there are laydown areas, places where construction equipment can be stored, to consider. One in Clarksville is about five acres and two in Millsfield – one of which is an acre and the other an acre and a half.

According to previous testimony from the construction panel, 10 to 20 more laydown areas are needed, Manzelli said.

Click below to read the full story by Nancy West at InDepthNH.org

Forest Society Presses Environmental Benefits of Burying Northern Pass

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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