From an Article by AD CRABLE, Lancaster OnLine, January 17, 2018

An order of Roman Catholic nuns near Columbia will get another day in federal court in their pursuit of a lawsuit against a gas pipeline company and a federal agency.

In a federal appeals court in Philadelphia on Friday, attorneys for the Adorers of the Blood of Christ will argue that forcibly building the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline through their property was a violation of their deeply held religious beliefs and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In September, a federal district court judge in Reading dismissed the nuns’ freedom-of-religion lawsuit brought against the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which approved the project, saying the court didn’t have jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit.

The nuns disagreed, and appealed the case to a federal appeals court.

In addition to hearing from the nuns’ attorneys on Friday, a panel of three judges will hear arguments from attorneys for FERC and the pipeline company.

The nuns maintain that their land ethic, adopted in 2005, holds them to use their West Hempfield Township property in a manner that does not harm the Earth. The pipeline, they say, will carry fracked natural gas, a fossil fuel “that would facilitate climate change and harm the Earth, in direct contravention of their religious beliefs.”

The court will not make a decision on Friday. If the judges eventually rule in favor of the nuns, their freedom-of-religion lawsuit would be remanded back to U.S. District Court.

The nuns’ objections to the pipeline has received worldwide attention.

When they refused to grant a right of way for the pipeline through a cornfield they own in West Hempfield Township, Transcontinental — or Transco — used eminent domain to gain access to the property.

In protest, the nuns allowed Lancaster Against Pipelines, a group opposed to the pipeline, to carve out a section of the cornfield in the pipeline’s path and build a prayer chapel.

But the pipeline was buried around the chapel and it was fenced off, but not removed. The pipeline work on the property is believed to be the first section of pipe laid in Lancaster County, and the nuns maintain that was done on purpose.

The Atlantic Sunrise pipeline is a $3 billion, 187-mile project to carry natural gas from wells in the Marcellus Shale formation of Pennsylvania to markets along the East Coast as far as South Carolina. Some of the gas is earmarked for export overseas.

The pipeline is currently being built in 10 Pennsylvania counties, including 37 miles of Lancaster County.

As much as I admire the courage of these folks….The pipeline will be constructed as it benefits the whole pie (our nation), not just a small piece (Lancaster). 

America has accepted Gas/Oil in order to keep the price at the pump’s low, however the sad part of it all, is what it’s doing to mother earth.  I feel your pain, but it’s a hopeless venture.  

>>> Gary Ogden aka: MicroMan

Five more Lancastrians were arrested today, including one minor, for doing the only thing legislators, courts, and regulators have left for us: civil disobedience. Our brave five neighbors stopped construction on Martic Heights drive by sitting in front of a working backhoe.

They join the LAKEWOOD 3, the CHAPEL 23, and the QUILT 6, who were arrested over the past several weeks for peacefully defending the forests and farmland that Lancaster County prizes.

SO LONG AS WILLIAMS CONTINUES TO DESECRATE OUR COUNTY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO RESIST.

Join us on December 9 for a mass action in the path of the pipeline.

DATE & TIME: Saturday, December 9 at 9:30 AM

MEETING PLACE: The Outdoor Chapel, 3939 Laurel Run, Columbia, PA 17512

TODAY’S ARRESTS BRING THE TOTAL NUMBER TO THIRTY-SEVEN. These actions, these numbers show the commitment of community members to make real sacrifices for what they believe in.

We need your help. DONATE to our legal defense fund today! Our movement is gaining strength weekly, but that means our legal fees are rising, too. Support our brave neighbors who are committed to defending this county, no matter the cost.

PLEASE DONATE TO OUR LEGAL DEFENSE FUND.

Hundreds of Williams’s out-of-state workers and shadowy security crews have invaded our home, trenched our fields, and defiled our rights. And for what? So their shareholders can make more money and increase domestic gas prices by exporting whatever the Atlantic Sunrise delivers for them.

This is being done on our backs. We will be left in the wake of this destruction when the workers and security crews go home. When our land and water and air are polluted, when our rights to property and justice are destroyed. For the profit of a corporation based in Oklahoma.

Today also demonstrated a new tenor in police treatment.

Protestors were given citations without warning. The police have clearly forgotten that they work for us, cajoled by a billion dollar corporation, just like our legislators, into doing their dirty work for them.

It’s shameful. And we will not be quiet because we cannot be quiet.

This project is unjust and we are united in standing for our rights, homes and liberties. Join us. Together we can stop this pipeline.

>>> Lancaster Against Pipelines
http://www.wearelancastercounty.org/