Above photo: State Street in Montpelier, VT. All photos by Crystal Zevon.
Montpelier, VT – On Saturday, Oct. 24, more than 100 people demonstrated against a pipeline that will carry fracked gas from Colchester to Rutland if it is completed. The pipeline is being built by Vermont Gas which is a subsidiary of the Canadian company Gaz Metro of Quebec.
Click here for a local news video of the demonstration.
According to the Burlington Free Press:
“Since the state Public Service Board approved Phase 1 in December 2013 with a price tag of $87 million, the cost of the project has nearly doubled. A cost hike in July 2014 brought the project to $122 million. Another last December pegged the cost at $154 million.
The Public Service Board has issued fines to reprimanded Vermont Gas for poor oversight of the project, but have allowed Phase 1 to proceed as scheduled. Opponents charge that the board and the Department of Public Service have failed to effectively regulate Vermont Gas.”
Much to the surprise of local law enforcement, the marchers then took over State Street and set up a giant replica of a fracking well. The crowd gathered there to listen to speeches. Police shut the street down.
In the evening, some from the group set up tents to occupy the street.
#shutitdown occupation going strong into night #vtpoli #nofracking #floodthesystem pic.twitter.com/xEI1iLc3it
— RisingTideVT (@RisingTideVT) October 25, 2015
As of the writing of this (Sunday evening, Oct. 25), they are still there.
The coalition which organized the action as part of Flood the System includes Rising Tide Vermont and 350 Vermont. They sent this out as an email blast prior to the action:
We think this project is on thin ice. Here are some things you aren’t hearing in the media:
- VT Gas is literally begging the Public Service Board to make a decision. We’ve been waiting since July for their decision, and critical construction windows for the pipeline are at risk of closing.
- This “deal” may be illegal. The lawyers are wrangling, and the AARP has motioned to strike this “deal” from the record. Additionally, the “deal” has several loopholes, so VT Gas customers could still see more escalation in costs beyond the cap.
- VT Gas has spent $80 million already, and they haven’t even gotten past Williston! (Remember: the whole project was only supposed to cost $86 million in the first place.)
