And now, a year later, the protests continue against the MVP

From an Article by Tommy Lopez, WSLS News 10, Roanoke, May 20, 2019

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – Some opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline are still sitting high up in the trees in protest, blocking construction of one section.

The last remaining tree-sit still has support in eastern Montgomery County near Elliston. Many pipeline opponents remain there, at the site that’s called Yellow Finch, which is just off US Route 460.

They’ve maintained the protest for the last eight months — through snow, rain and wind — blocking the pipeline’s path and preventing tree-cutting. Multiple protesters have rotated through the two tree-sits during that time.

Crystal Mello took her turn this past weekend, taking the position for about 48 hours. “I can’t picture [the pipeline] coming through here,” she said. “Somebody’s pockets are getting fat off of putting all of us in danger, even their own workers.”

A grandmother who cleans houses, she said it was emotional being up in the trees, supporting the anti-pipeline cause. “We all drink water. We all love these mountains. We all love our neighbors.”

She said hearing stories from landowners who’ve reported damage to their property and hearing of explosions along other pipeline routes motivated her to take action. Her biggest worry is that a pipeline would cause an explosion.

“This is definitely not a Democratic thing. This is definitely not a Republican thing. This should be the most bipartisan thing ever,” Mello said.

WSLS News 10 has told the stories of “Red,” “Nutty” and demonstrators on a Franklin County farm, among others. Now, Yellow Finch is the last tree-sit left on the MVP path.

The protesters can hike up an adjacent mountain to get a birds-eye view of the tree-sit. There, they can see a path of downed trees miles long — trees, which still remain on the ground.

People who live close to the path, like Penny Artis, remain concerned about the project’s effects. “The environment means nothing. Money means everything,” she said.

The pipeline opponents hope to keep their protest going. “The trees that are still standing are being held the best we can, to keep them from coming in,” Artis said. “We’re not eco-terrorists. We just want to live to see tomorrow.”

The MVP remains neither finished nor dead. A company spokesperson said Monday that it’s more than 80% complete and is still on track to be done by the end of the year.

“We respect the opinions of those who are opposed to the MVP project and, more importantly, we want to ensure everyone’s safety throughout the various phases of the construction process,” spokesperson Natalie Cox said in a statement sent to 10 News.

BACKGROUND:
The Mountain Valley Pipeline planned path runs from West Virginia into North Carolina, crossing through Giles, Montgomery, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties in the commonwealth. The natural gas pipeline would travel 303 miles and is estimated to cost $4.6 billion.

Opponents have documented hundreds of alleged examples of environmental harm the project has caused, including water quality effects from storm runoff and erosion.

The project has been met with opposition since the planning stage. Opponents have voiced concerns in local meetings and federal court proceedings, and staged sit-in style protests that have ranged from so-called tree-sits — in which some protesters have positioned themselves in the path of construction workers for more than a month at a time — to protests in which opponents have chained themselves to construction equipment in order to delay work.

A federal agency issued a stop-work order in August for the project, citing environmental concerns. The order was lifted later that month for all sections except two stretches that cross federal land.

In October, a federal court pulled a federal stream-crossing permit, which was a major setback for the project.

In December, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and the Department of Environmental Quality filed a lawsuit against the MVP, citing environmental violations.

The company behind the MVP said it received a letter in January from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia stating that it and the EPA are investigating potential criminal and civil violations of the Clean Water Act and other federal statutes related to the pipeline’s construction.

The MVP cleared a hurdle in March when the State Water Control Board decided it will not consider revoking a key permit. The news came after many pipeline opponents called on the board to take action against the project.

National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Guidance

From an Article by Alan Graf and Joel Richard Kupferman, National Lawyers Guild Environmental Committee, May 13, 2018

May 11, 2018 –The Environmental Justice Committee of the National Lawyers Guild stated it condemns the actions of the United States Forest Service in denying basic necessities to a Virginia protester in violation of international law and 18 USC §2340(2)(b).

The protester, a pod-sitter, with the forest name of “Nutty,” has sat in a pod since March 28, 2018, on a 50-foot pole in the Giles county section of Jefferson National Forest challenging the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). The 50-foot pole is attached by guy wires to a gate on a road.

MVP, having already started the construction of a 300-mile pipeline scheduled to carry fracked liquid natural gas, has commenced tree-cutting in the county in preparation for pipeline construction. The US Forest Service has closed off areas near Nutty and her pod, denying access to water protectors who support her, but more importantly, denying her food and water and subjecting her to smoke, bright lights and noise in an attempt to force her down from her perch atop of the pod.

A pod-sitter has a civil and human right to life. A police duty to protect has been created. By preventing others from providing food and water, the Forest Service has created a situation where the pod-sitter’s safety and well-being are at risk under the Deshaney Standard. See Deshaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Services, 489 U.S. 189 (1989). The Forest Service in conjunction with the State Police has exhibited deliberate indifference to the protector’s serious medical needs, violating the 8th Amendment under Deshaney.

Under the 14th amendment, the State has an affirmative duty to protect, which arises from the limitation it has imposed on the protector’s freedom to act on her own behalf.

Denial of food and water is also a violation of both domestic and International Law, including The Rome Statute, Article 7. 18 USC §2340(2)(b) expressly forbids citizens of the United States from “the administration and application of procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality” and section (c) of the same forbids threats of imminent death or bodily harm.

The denial of food and water and the continuing use of smoke, bright lights and excessive noise is both a threat and perpetration of bodily harm. Similarly, the denial of food and drinking water, and subjecting the pod sitter to smoke, bright lights and excessive noise has been calculated to disrupt the senses of this pod-sitter.

Further, UN Resolution 64/292, passed in July 2010, acknowledged that clean drinking water is essential to the realization of all human rights. The ends achieved by several United States acts, including the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act, are all consistent–that American citizens are entitled to access clean drinking water.

The first line of the Virginia Constitution reads as follows: “That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” The actions of the state in denying medical attention, food, water and clean air is a deprivation of the protector’s posterity and her pursuit of happiness and safety.

We are of the opinion that denial of food and water, and the use of smoke, excessive lights and noise amounts to a rejection of the protector’s First Amendment rights of Speech, Expression, and Peaceable Assembly. The pipeline protectors in Virginia are peaceably redressing the Forest Service for grievances. United States Parks are a public forum according to Justice Roberts in CIO v. Hague. Denying protectors access to water and food amounts to a prohibition on their expression.

The actions of the Forest Service amount to a content-specific violation and would not survive strict scrutiny analysis under the First Amendment. There are less restrictive means to
achieve the governmental ends. We believe that the Government’s objective in the continued torture of these protectors is not a compelling interest.

The Forest Service may claim that the pod-sitter has the ability to climb down, receive food and be arrested. However, at this point, no agency or independent inspector has ascertained the health and cognizant status of the pod-sitter. No one knows whether she has the strength or capacity to leave the pod.

If denial of food and water has already resulted in such profoundly diminished senses that she cannot cooperate to do so, the Forest Service’s actions in continuing to allow her to starve and dehydrate are tantamount to torture and contrary to International Law under the Geneva Convention and domestic law under 18 USC § 2340(2)(b) and (c).

The National Lawyers Guild Environmental Justice Committee demands the following:

– An independent medical body be permitted to visit the pod-site in the Jefferson National Forest and ascertain the health and well-being of the pod sitter

– The US Forest Service allow regular delivery of food and water to the pod sitter until the situation is resolved

-Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia order the State Troopers on site to immediately deliver, or allow delivery of, food and water to the pod sitter

– The United States Forest Service acknowledge their liability for any injuries or deaths that result from the continued denial of food and water.

Fracking has troubles in SE Europe

Article by S. Tom Bond, Retired Chemistry Professor and Resident Farmer, Lewis County, WV

A Reuters article tells of the response in Romania to Chevron’s attempt to drill horizontal shale wells there.  Pungesti, Romania, 150 miles from the Black Sea, and 210 miles from the capitol, Bucharest, is the site of a continuing battle between locals and Chevron.  For the second time in two months, locals have broken through a heavy anti-personnel fence to stop work.

Thousands of people have rallied in recent months against shale drilling, commonly known as fracking.  Chevron has government support, of course.  The protest is also against a massive strip mining for gold in the nearby Carpathian mountains.  (Note: Gold mining requires cyanide extraction on a very large scale.)

The Reuters article says that about 300 demonstrators, mostly local folk,  were not contained by a similar number of riot police.  Dozens were detained by police.  Chevron claimed there was some damage to equipment.  The company said “Chevron can today confirm it has suspended activities … as a result of unsafe conditions generated by unlawful and violent protester activities,” and all the other claims we have come to expect from the fracking companies, amounting to “we don’t hurt anyone by our operations.”

If you are interested in more detail, read here for the activist’s side, an article out of New Brunswick, Canada.  A fairly neutral “big press” article is here.  Wikipedia is getting up an article on the events there with a good picture of the people involved and the fence.  More information and good photos in this CNN iReport.

From further reading, it appears that Chevron is now back at work.  The area of the well, and a large area around it are in a state of lock-down. People can’t go to work, children can’t go to school, and the press is kept far away from the site.  1000 riot police are employed, as well as Chevron-hired guards.

The Romanian Revolution, changing it from the “most Stalinist police State in the Eastern Block” occurred only 24 years ago, well within memory of the older people.