Northern Pass

Good Evening. My name is Jack Savage and I represent the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. We would like to make a brief comment on the Draft EIS to add to those made by my colleague Will Abbott on Monday evening in Colebrook.

My name is Jane Difley, and I am here this evening representing the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, where I serve as President/Forester.

I am Ted Fitts, a property owner in Whitefield, and I teach courses in environmental history.  My ancestors showed up in New Hampshire in 1634, and now responsibility for the land is on our watch just as it was earlier on theirs.

The following comments were presented at the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee hearing in Meredith on March 1, 2016.
 
My name is Jane Difley. I am the president/forester of the Society for the Protection of NH Forests.
 

CONCORD — A dispute over the timing of the next round of public hearings on the Northern Pass is intensifying, as several towns have joined conservation groups and the attorney representing the public in pressing for March hearings to be postponed. 

On Friday, February 26, 2016 the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests filed a motion to include the New Hampshire State Department of Transportation in its court action against Northern Pass. In November of last year, the Forest Society sued Northern Pass, LLC, in Coos County Superior Court over the company’s attempt to use Forest Society land to build a private transmission line.

On Friday, February 26, 2016 the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests filed a motion to include the New Hampshire State Department of Transportation (DOT) in its court action against Northern Pass.

By the close of business on Feb. 5, more than 140 petitions to intervene in the Northern Pass docket had been emailed to the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee.

As another round of public hearings nears, interveners in opposition ranging from towns to state lawmakers have filed to influence the siting of Northern Pass, which a growing number say can be fully buried using a portion of the billions of dollars Hydro-Quebec and Eversource would make in profi