A lawyer for citizens trying to block a Vermont natural gas pipeline from going through a public park grilled witnesses for the company as protests occurred outside the hearing room Thursday.
The hearing before the state Public Service Board concerns a request for land in Geprags Park in Hinesburg to be taken by eminent domain.
Protesters who gathered outside before the hearing said they want to block the Vermont Gas Systems pipeline from Chittenden County south to Middlebury. They say Vermont should move away from, rather than expand its use of, a fossil fuel extracted with the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing.
The Public Service Board had initially closed the hearing to the public, but a federal judge this week ordered the board to open the meeting. The Board allowed six members of the public in the hearing at a time.
The board approved the overall project in 2013.
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