Pipelines

Mussolini Era Law Used By Italy Against Pipeline Protesters

December 13, 2017 Jon Stone, independent.co.uk Resist! Law, Pipelines, Protests

Italian authorities are using a Mussolini-era law to put an entire town under lockdown while they force through a gas pipeline against the wishes of the local community, activists have said. A so-called “red zone” was declared around Melendugno by the central government’s military police force this month, after months of protests against the effect of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) on the local area. Activists on the ground who contacted The Independent say the police swooped in the middle of the night and barred people from leaving their homes, blockaded streets, and fenced off olive farms. “Some locals have been expelled and cannot access Melendugno... for the next three years”, Sabina Giese, one resident of the town said.

VA State Water Control Board Delays Atlantic Coast Pipeline

December 13, 2017 Lorne Stockman, priceofoil.org Resist! Oil, Pipelines, Virginia

“After a complete failure last week in approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s certificate, Virginia’s State Water Control Board (SWCB) has delayed certification of the permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline until studies of sedimentation, karst, and erosion issues are completed. This rightly acknowledges the danger to Virginia’s water the project poses, but fails to clearly address those threats. While this is most definitely not what Dominion wanted and gives opponents of the pipeline more time to push for rejection, the SWCB should have rejected the certificate outright. “The Atlantic Coast Pipeline has seen massive opposition along its entire route. As was seen at the hearing today, those opponents are not going to rest easy until these pipelines are rejected outright.

Hudson Valley Earth First Blocks Valley Lateral Pipeline

December 11, 2017 Staff, hudsonvalleyearthfirst.org Resist! Activism, New York (NY), Pipelines, Protests

Wawayanda, New York - Hudson Valley Earth First has established a one person tree sit blockade in the path of the Valley Lateral Pipeline to stop its construction and to save the forrest. On December 8th, 2017, Millennium Pipeline Company started clearing trees for the Valley Lateral Pipeline, which would connect fracked natural gas from the existing Millennium Pipeline to the scandal-ridden, toxic Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Power Plant. Area activists have tried every other mechanism for stopping the construction of this pipeline, however the state of New York, the federal government, and the courts have failed to protect these woods and the species that live in and around them. If this 7.8 mile pipeline is completed, it would run through ecosystems which contain, and have the potential to contain, endangered species such as the Bald Eagle(a mating pair is known to live 30 feet from the right-of-way), the Indiana Bat, and the Bog Turtle. Additionally, if the CPV plant is fueled, the pollution from the plant release tons of chemicals known to increase cancer and asthma rates in nearby areas.

Pipeline Company Illegally Cutting Trees, Threatening Eagles

December 10, 2017 Protect Orange County, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Oil and Gas, Pipelines, wildlife

Orange County NY Residents who oppose Millenniums 7.8 Mile pipeline called VLP or Valley Lateral Project staged a Vigil after learning that yesterday the stay of construction was lifted for the VLP Millennium Pipeline Project. The Millennium Pipeline was planning on cutting down trees feet from a protected Nesting Bald Eagles nest, even after they requested and were provided with footage of the Eagles in the Nest this Month. 24 hours after the stay was lifted Millennium Employees were found on Ridgebury road in the Town of Wawayanda with chain saws and hardhats.

Leaked PowerPoint Reveals Gas Industry’s Playbook

December 7, 2017 Alexander C. Kaufman, huffingtonpost.com Strategize! Leak, Pipelines, Ruling Class

By Alexander C. Kaufman for The Huffington Post - One of the natural gas industry’s top trade associations launched a front group earlier this year to defend new East Coast pipeline proposals against the kind of protests that have targeted oil projects like Keystone XL and Dakota Access. The American Gas Association-funded group Your Energy now claims it has recruited roughly 10,000 supporters to advocate for its companies and counter protesters who warn that new pipelines threaten to exacerbate climate change, cause environmental damage and violate landowners’ property rights. The registration number signals the organization’s ramped-up effort to shore up political support for new pipeline projects and tip the scales in favor of corporations that already wield disproportionate clout. Your Energy ― made up of a national organization and state chapters in Virginia and Connecticut ― provides research and colorful graphics, runs social media campaigns and gives companies access to a “digital war room” that tracks pipeline protests, according to an industry presentation from August. HuffPost obtained the PowerPoint after it briefly became accessible on the American Gas Association’s website. “There is strong and growing support for the valuable role that natural gas plays in our national energy future and the benefits this fuel brings to our environment and economy,” Jake Rubin, an American Gas Association spokesman, said in a statement.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Environmental Justice Impact

December 5, 2017 Elizabeth Ouzts, southeastenergynews.com Resist! Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Environment, Environmental Justice, Pipelines, Protests

By Elizabeth Ouzts for Southeast Energy News - On September 15, 1982, high-profile protests over the siting of a toxic waste dump in Afton, North Carolina – an overwhelmingly African American town an hour northeast of Raleigh – set in motion a wave of reforms to prevent polluters from targeting people of color and the poor. Thirty-five years later, North Carolina advocates say the $5-billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline deserves its own place in the environmental-justice history books – a distinction they believe could be its undoing. “It deserves its own claim to shame,” said Therese Vick with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. Backed primarily by Duke Energy and Dominion Resources, the project would transport 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus Shale region to Virginia and North Carolina, hugging the I-95 corridor before ending in Robeson County. In all but one county along the pipeline’s 180-mile route in North Carolina, African Americans, Native Americans and those living in poverty make up a greater percentage of the population than the statewide average. More than a quarter of the state’s Native Americans live along the project’s path. Despite flagging 71 percent of the census tracts along the North Carolina pipeline route for ‘environmental justice concerns,’ federal regulators have given the project the green light – a move scores of groups are contesting.

Massachusetts, Protesters Balk At Pipeline Company’s Payments To Police

December 5, 2017 Eoin Higgins, huffingtonpost.com Resist! Massachusetts, Pipelines, Police, Protests

By Eoin Higgins for The Huffington Post - SANDISFIELD, Mass. ― When Karla Colon-Aponte arrived at the Otis State Forest on the morning of Oct. 25, she intended to join her fellow protesters praying beside energy giant Kinder Morgan’s Connecticut Expansion Project line, a four-mile-long natural gas pipeline that runs in a loop through the town of Sandisfield in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. The Connecticut Expansion Project has been the focus of sustained activist resistance in this sleepy rural community ever since Kinder Morgan began work at the site in late April. The pipeline, which went into operation last month, links natural gas infrastructure in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. The portion of the project in Sandisfield cuts through Berkshire wilderness, across old-growth forest and alongside waterways, which pipeline critics say could potentially damage the natural resources in the state forest. Colon-Aponte, 22, is Taina, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, and is part of a group known as the “water protectors,” who have traveled the country protesting energy infrastructure projects, using nonviolent resistance tactics to stop projects that they see as endangering water resources. The Massachusetts State Police, expecting trouble from the protesters, were already on site in force when Colon-Aponte arrived at the pipeline. The two sides converged on a dirt road as tensions began to rise with the early morning mist. It started as a faceoff between the protesters and the cops, but quickly escalated. As the police closed in, Colon-Aponte tried to move away from the front line.

Climate Activists Delay U.S. Gas Pipeline Approvals: Regulator

December 4, 2017 Timothy Gardner, reuters.com Resist! Activists, Climate Change, Courts, Pipelines

By Timothy Gardner for Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National environmental groups waging legal battles against energy projects are delaying approval of U.S. natural gas pipelines, a top federal energy regulator said on Thursday. The groups have lawyers who “understand how to use all of the levers of federal and state law to frustrate pipeline development,” Neil Chatterjee, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), told a meeting of natural gas industry officials. Some recent approvals of natural gas pipelines, such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina, have taken two years or more. Chatterjee said he hoped a timeline of two-plus years would not become the new industry norm. While industry officials have often complained about climate activists, Chatterjee’s comments, which he said reflected his opinion, are rare for a regulator. He did not identify any specific green groups, but the Sierra Club and 350.org both have campaigns to reject pipelines filled with gas from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, projects. The groups are fighting development of fossil fuels including oil, coal and fracked natural gas, because they say the production slows the transition to cleaner sources, like wind and solar power, and the conservation and storage of energy. The Trump administration is trying to boost output of the fuels to increase jobs in the industry and sell energy exports to allies.

800 Anti-Pipeline Virginians Surround Capitol At Rally & Concert

December 4, 2017 Stacy Miller, chesapeakeclimate.org Resist! Fracking, Pipelines, Protests, Virginia

By Stacy Miller for CCAN - Several speakers rallied the crowd, including Del. Sam Rasoul of Roanoke, one of several candidates who refused money from Dominion Energy — lead developer of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — and other fossil fuel companies during the election. “I have the responsibility to speak up on behalf of my constituents and speak out against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines,” Rasoul said. “I want to ensure that our communities’ drinking water remains safe, and our water sources are not jeopardized. Virginians know these pipelines would bring more harm than good. I urge Governor McAuliffe and the Water Control Board to reject the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.” After the rally,, the crowd followed an enormous Water Spirit Puppet created by All the Saints Theater Company to The National theater for a free concert. Delegate-elect Jennifer Carroll Foy of Woodbridge was the keynote speaker. “More than ever, we need to protect our water and environment,” Foy said. “At Possum Point, only a few miles from my home, an old coal plant continues to leak toxic metals into our water supply because the coal ash has not been stored properly. We owe it to all of the families living in this area, including my husband and my infant twin boys, to fight for clean, safe drinking water.”

More People Standing In Way Of New Pipelines

December 3, 2017 Chris Paulus, www.occupy.com Resist! Oil & Gas, Pipelines

By Chris Paulus for Occupy.com. Yet even amid the companies' growing use of scare tactics and secret maneuvers, citizens are ramping up direct action. People have braved the elements and matched the energy giants with their own brand of force, as residents nationwide turn to a mix of creative and traditional tactics to halt as many projects as they can. For example, in late September, people participated in a "Hold the Line" rally in the Minnesota State Capitol to protest the Line 3 project. Among them was 70-year-old Minnesotan David Johnson, who said he would stand firm against large energy companies despoiling their state. Also in September, angry residents in Superior, WI, took more drastic and visible measures through direct action. Unicorn Riot reported that citizens overturned cars to block the way to the pipeline construction site, and chained themselves to the cars. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, four residents filed a federal lawsuit against Energy Transfer Partners . . .

KXL Pipeline Fighters Hail Commission Decision As Victory

December 2, 2017 John Zangas, dcmediagroup.us Resist! Keystone XL, Nebraska, Pipelines

By John Zangas for DCMG - The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) voted to give TransCanada permission to build the northern leg of the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline on November 21, yet opponents are heralding the decision as a victory. The Commission’s 3-2 vote approved an alternate route rather than TransCanada’s preferred one, a move which pipeline fighters say could set back the project at least three years and possibly up to as many as five years. The KXL pipeline northern leg is intended to transport tar sands from Alberta tar pits to refineries in Texas where it would be exported to Asia. Opponents have argued that in addition to tar sands being one of the most dirty types of fossil energy sources, the pipeline would be a major climate change contributor, and risk contaminating the Ogallala aquifer, an agricultural and drinking water source for over 2 million people across nine states. TransCanada has been challenged at each stage by opponents since it first applied for the permit to build the northern leg of the KXL pipeline. Project opponents include hundreds of land owners, indigenous people, environmentalists, and green groups, which launched a massive nationwide campaign against it in 2010. And with this vote they believe there is a good chance the project can be stopped altogether because construction will be delayed even longer. Art Tanderup, a farmer from Neligh, Neb., whose property would be directly impacted by the KXL, said that the Nebraska PSC decision will force TransCanada to relocate four pump stations.

Lawsuit Against Environmental Activists Should Be Dismissed

December 1, 2017 Blake Nicholson, AP.org Resist! Activists, Environment, Lawsuit, Pipelines, pollution

By Blake Nicholson for Associated Press - BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Environmental groups being sued by the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Netherlands and U.S.-based Greenpeace and Netherlands-based BankTrack argue in court documents that their opposition to the $3.8 billion project to move North Dakota oil to Illinois is protected free speech, not an illegal effort to undermine the developer. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners in August filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace, BankTrack and Earth First, alleging they disseminated false and misleading information about the Dakota Access project, interfered with its construction and damaged the company’s reputation and finances through illegal acts. The lawsuit filed in federal court in North Dakota cites “a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas,” and seeks damages that could approach $1 billion. Attorneys for Greenpeace and BankTrack in court documents filed Tuesday argue that the lawsuit is without merit and an attack on free speech. “Greenpeace’s political advocacy criticizing Energy Transfer’s practices is within the core of First Amendment protection,” the attorneys wrote. In the lawsuit, ETP levies numerous accusations against what it describes as a vast network of co-conspiring groups and people that committed crimes to further their agendas.

I Shut Down An Oil Pipeline

November 26, 2017 Emily Johnston, www.theguardian.com Resist! Climate Change, Necessity defense, Pipelines

By Emily Johnston for the Guardian. A little over a year ago, four friends and I shut down all five pipelines carrying tar sands crude oil into the United States by using emergency shut-off valves. As recent months have made clear, climate change is not only an imminent threat; it is an existing catastrophe. It’s going to get worse, and tar sands oil—the dirtiest oil on Earth—is one of the reasons. We did this very, very carefully—after talking to pipeline engineers, and doing our own research. Before we touched a thing, we called the pipeline companies twice to warn them, and let them turn off the pipelines themselves if they thought that was better; all of them did so. We knew we were at risk for years in prison. But the nation needs to wake up now to what’s coming our way if we don’t reduce emissions boldly and fast; business as usual is now genocidal.

South Dakota Warns It Could Revoke Pipeline Permit

November 26, 2017 Phil McKenna, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Environment, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, South Dakota

By Phil McKenna for Inside Climate News. South Dakota regulators said they could revoke TransCanada's permit for the 7-year-old Keystone Pipeline if an investigation into a large oil spill discovered last week concludes the company violated its terms. If that happens, the company would have to correct any issues—in the worst case, even replace part of the pipeline—before oil shipments could resume. The scrutiny comes as more challenges emerge to the company's recently approved expansion of its pipeline system: the Keystone XL. On Nov. 16, TransCanada reported that 210,000 gallons, or 5,000 barrels, of oil had spilled from its existing Keystone Pipeline near Amherst, South Dakota, and that it had shut down the pipeline in response.

Judge Orders Removal Of Gas Pipeline From Native American Property

November 25, 2017 Staff, nativefire.blogspot.com Resist! Courts, Indigenous Peoples, Pipelines

By Staff of Native Americans News - In a decisive victory for Native American rights, a federal judge just ordered an energy company to completely remove a natural gas pipeline. The Free Thought Project Seventeen years after the expiration of an easement, a federal judge has ordered an energy company to completely remove its pipeline from the properties of 38 Native American landowners — none of whom have been compensated for the company’s use of their land since the year 2000. Now, the pipeline company will have just six months to dismantle and completely remove the structure. “Having carefully reviewed the parties’ submissions, and in light of the facts and circumstances in this case,” Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange wrote in the 10-page decision for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, “the court finds that a permanent injunction should be entered in this case. Specifically, it is plaintiffs’ interests in the exclusive possession of their land which has been invaded by the presence of the pipeline and defendants’ continued use of the pipeline. “Further, Defendants have continued to use the pipeline and although they were advised by the [Bureau of Indian Affairs] on March 23, 2010, more than five and a half years before the instant action was filed, that ‘[i]f valid approval of a right of way for this tract is not timely secured, Enogex should be directed to move the pipeline off the subject property’ …”

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