Emily Lorsch at Time Warner Cable Southern Tier reports there were many outbursts throughout the DEC's first public hearing Jan. 12 concerning the proposed Constitution Pipeline, a $700 million project that would deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania to markets in New York and New England. There are two more public hearings scheduled, on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14, for public input on the project that runs mostly along the I-88 corridor in Schoharie and Delaware counties. "They're bullies, they want to use eminent domain. The landowner gets next to nothing and I'm here to represent landowners who have actually experienced this and it's a disaster," said landowner Craig Stevens. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a certificate of approval last month for the project, and another pipeline, the Pilgrim Pipeline, is proposed to run from Albany to New Jersey through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties. At least one union member supported the project at the first of the three Constitution Pipeline hearings. "The facts speak for themselves. We take a lot of care to put the right-of-ways back the way they were and in fact, some studies show it's actually better for wildlife after the right-of-ways are through the woodlands," said Laborers Local 785 business manager David Marsh. The "Watershed Post" reports that the pipeline has filed 121 eminent domain lawsuits against property owners along the route who don't want the pipeline to cross their land, and that 81 percent of the 625 landowners along the route have signed easements with the pipeline company. The other hearings are at 6 p.m. Tue., Jan. 13, at SUNY Oneonta Lecture Hall IRC #3, 108 Ravine Parkway, Oneonta. and at 6 p.m. Wed., Jan. 14, at SUNY Cobleskill, Bouck Hall Theater, State Route 7, Cobleskill. The DEC has extended its public comment period on the pipeline to Feb. 27. Read more at Time Warner's website.