July 7, 2015, ADDISON, VT – Today activists from TWAC (Trans* and/or Women’s Action Camp) and Earth First!, blockaded a shipment of fracked gas en route to the International Paper mill in Addison County, VT and hung a banner proclaiming “Not by Truck, Pipe or Rail” off the Crown Point bridge. [1] They called for an end to the extreme energy extraction, distribution, and consumption that fuels social and ecological violence, which impacts people of color, indigenous peoples, trans* people and/or women, and low-income people the most.
About 40 people participated in the action, which blocked an NG Advantage truck for several hours. NG Advantage, owned in part by Texas oilman and billionaire T. Boone Pickens, began shipping fracked gas to International Paper last year after it became increasingly clear that the fracked gas pipeline underneath Lake Champlain was unlikely to be completed.
Damien Gabriel was arrested after they locked themself to the truck transporting fracked gas, delaying the shipment for several hours. “I took action today in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of gas extraction and the climate crisis” Gabriel said. “NG Advantage and Vermont Gas benefit from the exploitation and destruction of indigenous lands. I cannot stand by and let the transport of fracked gas go unnoticed while so many land bases and communities are being destroyed in the name of fossil fuel expansion and profit.” Four other activists supporting the action were also arrested.
Communities on the front-lines of extraction across the continent are fighting back, including the Lubicon Lake Cree First Nation in so-called Alberta, which has been been working to halt fracking and other extraction on their traditional territory. [2] Other residents of the region have also been documenting the impacts of fracking, including groundwater contamination. [3]
Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, which is a form of extreme energy extraction in which a toxic cocktail of dangerous chemicals, water, and sand are pumped with a great degree of force into shale rock in order to release oil and gas. Fracking poisons groundwater and causes earthquakes.
“Because Vermont banned fracking and stopped the pipeline under the lake, many people think we aren’t supporting the process at all,” said Claire Horner-Richardson of Plainfield, VT, “However, we are exporting the worst impacts of extraction to communities in Alberta and fracked gas from Alberta is being trucked through this community by NG Advantage, threatening the health, safety, and ecology of our region”.
For the past three years, Vermont Gas and International Paper have been mired in a battle with residents opposing plans to build a fracked gas pipeline through the Champlain Valley and underneath Lake Champlain. Meanwhile, rail shipments of fracked oil along Lake Champlain have increased, and other proposed mega-energy projects loom on the horizon.
“We’re saying no to using the Champlain Valley as an energy corridor. The transportation of fossil fuels is volatile and dangerous whether it’s by pipeline, train, or truck.” said Molly Stuart of Burlington, VT. We are taking action to denounce the ongoing colonization of first nations territories in so-called Alberta and the extreme energy extraction happening there which is destructive in all stages”.
While TWAC activists blocked the fracked-gas shipment, hundreds of people participated in a other actions across the Champlain Valley, including a flotilla across Lake Champlain, a blockade of an oil train, and a rally. The events are part of a week of over 75 actions across North America marking the second anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic oil-by-rail disaster, which killed 47 people when a train full of fracked oil exploded and levelled the small Quebec town. [4]
Notes to Editors:
1. TWAC is a group of activists who identify as Trans*, Transgender, Genderqueer, and Gender non-conforming as well as anyone who identifies as a woman regardless of whether they were assigned female at birth.
2. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/busines/Lubicon+Lake+Nation+challenges+fracking+access+land/9350601/story.html
3. http://albertavoices.ca/
4. https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/stop-oil-trains-week-of-action-2015