Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Jennifer Baker of Monkton, who has spearheaded opposition to Vermont Gas Systems’ proposed natural gas pipeline through Addison County.
The recent Public Service Board (PSB) hearing on Vermont Gas Systems’ (VGS) proposed Addison natural gas project that was held in Hinesburg was very well attended, 200-250 people according to the Burlington Free Press.
The PSB heard from speakers from both sides of the issue. What was not conveyed in press accounts, however, was the degree to which Vermont Gas went to stack the hearing, in an attempt to manipulate both the outcome and the public’s perception of the evening.
According to the PSB’s own Citizens’ Guide to the … Section 248 Process: “… public comments play an important role by raising new issues or offering perspectives that the Board should consider and ask parties to present evidence on.” In other words, the public hearing is supposed to be a chance for those not previously heard from in the petition filing, and who are not parties, to express their issues and concerns.
And why were there so many people from New York there? The part of the project that brings gas to International Paper in Ticonderoga, N.Y., is part of Phase 2 and this was a public hearing on Phase 1.
Of the 75 people who spoke, 35 spoke in favor of the pipeline. But 24 of those 35 were already well-represented in the filing in one or more of the following ways: they were members of the Addison Expansion Advisory Group (a very small group that was invited in for the initial planning meetings), they submitted letters of support as part of VGS’s pre-filed testimony, they have already filed motions to intervene, and/or they are the future large commercial customers.
Treating the public hearing as some sort of competition to be won, VGS sent out an email to these groups requesting them to come and speak, and they came and ate up valuable hearing time to recite VGS’s talking points by proxy.
And why were there so many people from New York there? The part of the project that brings gas to International Paper in Ticonderoga, N.Y., is part of Phase 2 and this was a public hearing on Phase 1. We were treated to a parade of New Yorkers, who should not have even been allowed to speak at a hearing for Vermont citizens, on a topic that is not even the subject of the current petition.
The net result of this misconduct is that not only were comments on both sides of the issue curtailed to two minutes apiece, by the end of the evening Chairman James Volz was reading off name after name of Vermonters who got discouraged and left before getting the opportunity to speak. Also, some latecomers were told there were already too many names on the list and it was too late to sign up to speak.
It’s too bad that the PSB could not manage to control its own hearing to ensure that Vermonters actually had their chance to express themselves in a public forum. It is one more example of VGS’s attempt to railroad this project through without really giving impacted Vermonters a chance to speak their mind. Even after putting out a 2,500+ page filing, VGS felt it had to throw its weight around to stifle a public discussion where opposing views might be heard. One alert citizen watched as VGS’s newly-hired public relations consultant kept a running tally of pro vs. anti comments, but was most intrigued by his apparent powers of prescience, in that he could mark down the pros in the correct column before they even said a word. This same “image consultant” was also overheard discouraging people from putting their names on the speakers’ list, saying, “This is going to run until midnight as it is.”
What you didn’t hear was a torrent of Middlebury or Vergennes homeowners demanding cheap natural gas. If you were a Vermont Gas executive, you might find this lack of interest alarming. But then they already know that with the addition of International Paper as a customer, purchasing 70 percent of the natural gas in the pipeline, you don’t really need any Addison County homeowners as customers anyway.
