ECHO Action was present at the Manchester Open House for Liberty Utilities' Granite Bridge Pipeline, reaching out to community members, offering information and ways to take action.
Sue Durling was outside, speaking with community members, while Pat Martin was inside, challenging Liberty Utilities' Mike Licata on their numbers. Her calculations indicate the Epping LNG tank could take 73 years to get a return on and the reduced carbon emissions number their using is off by 12%.
"Sue Durling of ECHO Action, a pipeline opponent, manned an information table in the parking lot where an elderly couple from Candia stopped to talk with her. The couple, who asked to remain anonymous, explained that they are project abutters, with land and a home on Route 101. A year ago, they knew something was coming when a surveyor appeared, followed by a notification letter.
The woman, who is in her 70s, said, “I have a hopeless feeling, dealing with a big, corporate utility with lawyers and money. They’ll only listen when a lot of people get involved. I was a girl in Chicopee, Massachusetts, when there was a major gas explosion that killed several people. I went to school with kids whose parents were killed. After that, the new developments were all electric. There is no gas now in Candia. They will take part of our land and our orchard to build this project.”
Durling said, “My concern is that while they are blasting granite with horizontal directional drilling, they will disrupt the underground water table. This is very close to Lake Massabesic, the city’s water source.”
Comments