WILLISTON — Natural gas pipeline protesters made their first attempt to block the construction of the Vermont Gas pipeline project Wednesday morning.
About a dozen demonstrators marched onto the utility’s staging area in Williston, disrupting construction work for about an hour by blocking the front entrance to the pipe yard. Protesters left before police issued trespass citations. No arrests were made.
Jen Berger, a Burlington natural gas customer, was among the protesters locking arms at the entrance to the site just east of Maple Tree Place as police and construction vehicles inched by the demonstration.
“We want them to stop construction,” she said. “The people in Addison County – the landowners, the ratepayers – have spoken out.”
Vermont Gas’ first phase of the 41-mile pipeline extension connects service in Chittenden and Franklin counties to Middlebury. State regulators approved the project in December and are reviewing a recent increase in cost estimates.
Several landowners along the pipeline route denounced the company’s project after receiving letters from land agents stating that the company could seize their land through eminent domain. About 450 ratepayers later signed a petition calling on the company to halt construction.
Berger said she and other ratepayers will continue urging the company to stop construction, but she would not say if another protest was planned.
“I can tell you we’re here today and not going to go anywhere and we’re going to continue to ask them to stop,” she said.
Williston police arrived on the scene minutes after the protesters marched on the pipe yard where workers were encasing pipes in concrete. While blocking the driveway, the protesters attempted to negotiate with company officials.
Among their request was for Vermont Gas to stop the “industrial” trespass on landowners’ property.
Tim Keefe, vice president of finance and accounting at Vermont Gas, was at the scene. He said the company welcomes peaceful and safe protest. He said demonstrators could move outside the construction site onto the greenbelt near U.S. 2.
“This is an active job site,” he said. “The fact that we’re standing right here without helmets is probably a safety violation as it is.”
Keefe said the company was expecting deliveries for construction materials and some truck drivers needed to leave.
Vermont Gas spokesman Steve Wark said in a statement these were the same protesters who allegedly assaulted a Vermont Gas employee during a protest in May, and cannot be trusted.
“As a result of their extreme behavior, and our concern that they may be violent or vandalize property in the future, we have had to establish specific security protocols to protect people and property and we will continue to follow these protocols,” his statement read.
After completing the first phase of the pipeline extension, the company plans to connect Middlebury to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, New York, and later to Rutland. Both plans need state and federal approval.
Pipeline opponents – including several environmental groups – say the project deepens a reliance on fossil fuels when there are cleaner and cheaper alternatives available, like electric heat pumps powered by renewable electricity.
The company says the pipeline will lower heating costs and reduce carbon emissions for customers switching from No. 2 heating oil to natural gas. The Vermont Public Service Board determined the project was in the state’s public good when it approved the project, and it has the support of the Shumlin administration.
