Above photo: From ResistAim on Facebook.
Cortlandt, NY – Defying the law to halt the Algonquin pipeline expansion was necessary for public safety, according to nine people who face criminal charges for their efforts to stop the project.
The group, calling itself “the Montrose Nine,” were all expected to appear in Cortlandt Town Court on Friday afternoon in the case. The nine people have pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct charges for allegedly disrupting traffic one morning by blocking the entrance to Spectra Energy’s parking lot on Route 9A in Montrose on Nov. 9.
“It is our belief that there is going to be a disaster” if the pipeline is expanded, said Linda Snider, one of the arrested activists. “We’re trying to prevent a disaster.”
The Hastings-on-Hudson resident spoke outside Cortlandt Town Court on Friday morning, joined by the eight other defendants and a horde of supporters, who displayed signs and spoke out against the pipeline.
“We are in support of the Montrose Nine in claiming a ‘necessity defense’ that their actions were just and justified in the face of the threat to our health, our safety, and that of our climate,” said Lisa Moir, a local climate activist and pipeline opponente.
Spectra’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project will expand an existing pipeline network in New York and surrounding states that transports natural gas from Pennsylvania to New England. Construction, underway now, will include replacing some sections and building a new section that will run through Stony Point, under the Hudson River and through Verplanck and Buchanan.
The project was approved in March by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In October 30,000 people signed a petition calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to halt the project and asking the state to conduct an independent risk assessment of the pipeline’s potential hazards.
The defendants were originally charged with disorderly conduct for disobeying a police officer, a violation, but those charges were dropped and replaced with disorderly conduct for blocking traffic, said their lawyer, Martin Stolar.
Stolar said his clients pleaded not guilty on Dec. 11 and are set to begin trial Friday afternoon. All nine defendants are expected to take the stand and argue that their actions were justified in protecting public safety, Stolar said.
“Each and every one of these defendants had a considered opinion that the Spectra pipeline was dangerous,” he said.
Snider said the protesters were blocking the entrance to the property, not the road. The police officers were the ones actually obstructing traffic, she said.
Courtney Williams, a member the group opposing the pipeline project Resist AIM, said the trial was adjourned until next week when a tentative court date of Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. was set. Williams, who was not at the trail but has been in contact with Montrose Nine and the group throughout the day, said two state troops testified today that the protesters remained on the sidewalk and did not go onto the street.
“It’s going well,” Williams said about Friday’s events. “Everyone is very happy. We are getting our day in court, after having had our voices blocked.”
“I think the day went pretty well because the police basically said they paid more attention to the protesters than to the traffic jam,” Stolar, the group’s attorney, said.
Peekskill resident Nancy Vann, who is strongly opposed to the pipeline which is planned to pass through the property of her Cortlandt summer home, said she attended the trail and the case was “very unusual for Cortlandt.” But Vann said the added media coverage should help draw attention to the group’s cause to resist the pipeline.
“Hopefully, more people in this area will become aware of the issues and realize how dangerous this is.”