WINSLOW—The group that hopes to save Halifax Dam from being destroyed spent nearly two hours Tuesday night arguing its case before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Save Our Sebasticook, a non-profit group dedicated to saving the dam, and Jane Edwards have both appealed the Planning Board’s March decision to allow the dam’s owner, FPL Energy, to remove the 100-year-old dam.

The energy company is bound by a 1998 agreement that required fish passage be provided for sea-run species by either a fish lift or dam removal by May 1, 2003.

SOS delayed the dam removal process through a series of court challenges at the state and federal level.

Five members of SOS and Edwards on Tuesday argued that the planning board violated the shoreland zoning ordinance when it granted FPL permission to tear down the dam on a number of fronts, including its failure to protect the habitat that has developed along the impoundment behind the dam and homeowners from potential erosion of their properties.

The meeting, which adjourned just before 11 p.m., is set to continue with testimony from FPL, other residents and board questions on Monday, May 19 at the town office.

The board has 35 days from the end of the hearing to make a decision.