CALAIS – At long last, the state Board of Environmental Protection appeared in Washington County Monday for the first in a series of weeklong public hearings on a controversial liquefied natural gas facility proposed in Robbinston.

About 70 people sat in the muggy Calais High School auditorium all day to witness and participate in the cross-examination of Downeast LNG by intervenors, or legally recognized parties both for and against the proposed facility.

Downeast LNG was represented by numerous project developers, lawyers, engineers and environmental consultants.

The company awaits response to the applications it has filed with the BEP and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to construct an LNG terminal and import facility in Robbinston, and a pipeline that would travel through Robbinston, Calais, Baring Plantation, Baileyville and Princeton.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recommended the BEP take jurisdiction over the case and the BEP has agreed to do so. The BEP consists of 12 Maine citizens – 10 of whom were present – with a strong interest in the environment.

Intervenors in the case include the town of Robbinston, Save Passamaquoddy Bay, Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomikumon (We Take Care of Our Land), fishermen’s associations, Robbinston residents, Professional Mariners and Water Users of Passamaquoddy Bay, Quoddy Bay LNG-Bear Creek Investments, city of Eastport, Eastport Port Authority and Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission.

During the morning project summary period, local harbor pilot Capt. Bob Peacock summarized the argument that Downeast LNG would spend the rest of the day trying to prove.

“I can say without doubt there will be no unreasonable impact on the current navigational, recreational, fishing, commercial use, marine mammals or aquaculture along the LNG ship route,” Peacock said.

Downeast LNG President Dean Girdis said his project meets a rapidly growing demand for natural gas in New England, and emphasized his assertion that his company has “actively involved the local community in the development process.”

Lawyers Ron Shems of Burlington, Vt., and Ron Kreisman of Hallowell represented the U.S.-Canadian group Save Passamaquoddy Bay and the Passamaquoddy Tribe group, Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomikumon, which are both opposed to the LNG project.

“This may very well be a good project; we’re just not sure that it’s in the right location … One of the bay’s attributes is that it doesn’t really lend itself well to heavy industry,” Shems said.

Kreisman asked Girdis to specify how often LNG tankers would travel through Head Harbor Passage and Passamaquoddy Bay to the pier in Mill Cove, Robbinston.

Downeast LNG had estimated an LNG delivery tanker might arrive once every five to seven days in the winter and once every eight to 10 days in the summer. Kreisman requested that the BEP impose a limit of 52 tanker deliveries per year. Girdis said he would agree to that restriction.

“It’s highly unlikely that we would see 52 ships per year,” Girdis said, since that figure is based on the facility running at capacity.

The BEP asked highly detailed questions as it thumbed through copies of Downeast LNG’s and Downeast Pipeline LLC’s applications for a site location of development permit, a Natural Resources Protection Act permit, and air emission license and water quality certification.

Some questions covered larger issues, such as project financing and LNG tanker impact on recreational boating.

Greg Dorr, a Bangor attorney hired to represent the town of Robbinston, asked Girdis how he was funding the project.

Girdis replied that roughly 20 percent of the project is funded with equity from two private New York firms, Yorktown Partners and Kestrel Energy Partners, and about 80 percent of the project funds will be borrowed from either a commercial bank or bond market.

Both Dorr and the BEP asked how canoeists and other recreational boaters would be able to get around the pier in Mill Cove and throughout the waters that the LNG tankers will travel.

“Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion out there about safety and security zones … a canoe can go underneath the pier and along the outside edge of the zones,” said Rob Wyatt, project application coordinator for Downeast LNG. Recreational boats also may pass under the pier when a tanker is docked, Wyatt said.

Hearings will continue all week. Members of the public are invited to testify during the BEP’s evening sessions, which are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 17, at the Robbinston Grade School and 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at Calais High School.

Written comments can be dropped off during the hearings, e-mailed to Jennifer.Cayer@maine.gov or sent by mail to Department of Environmental Protection, Attn: Jennifer Cayer, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor 04401.

The BEP is not expected to make a decision on the case until early winter.