Sacred Corn Harvest Celebration in 2015

Cowboy & Indian Alliance to Plant “Seeds of Resistance” Ponca Corn on Land in Paths of Atlantic Coast & Mountain Valley Fracked Gas Pipelines

Press Release from April Keating, Mountain Lakes Preservation Association, May 25, 2016

RE: ACP & MVP Natural Gas Pipelines. [Large-diameter, high-pressure, long-distance, eminent –domain,  national-forests, public-risks, explosion-hazards & water pollution.]

WHAT: Public Gatherings of Concern.         WHEN: June 6 to June 8 (near Weston),

WHERE: Stuarts Draft VA (10am) — Wingina, VA (3pm) (Monday, June 6th) — Boones Mill, VA (9am) — Lafayette, VA (3pm) (Tuesday, June 7th) — Union, WV (9am) (Wednesday, June 8^th) — Weston, WV (4pm). (Wednesday, June 8th)

The people who helped to bring an end to the Keystone XL, Bold Nebraska, are coming to West Virginia to stand in solidarity with local landowners affected by the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. They will be planting “sacred corn” seeds along the route of the two pipelines. Between June 6 and 8, the group will stop at 4 locations in Virginia and 2 in West Virginia.

Jane Kleeb, organizer from Nebraska, and Mekasi Camp, a native of the Ponca tribe of Oklahoma, are making the journey down to support those in West Virginia who stand against the proposed pipeline projects. “We’re going to stand together with the cowboys—the ranchers and farmers,” said Mekasi Horinek Camp. “Together our families will plant sacred Ponca corn as seeds of resistance to these risky fracked gas pipelines. As the corn grows it will stand strong for us, to help us protect and keep Mother Earth safe for our children. We stand with the pipeline fighters.”

“Actions, like planting the Ponca corn, show the strength and commitment of people standing up to Big Gas and their reckless pipelines,” said Jane Kleeb, Bold Alliance President. “Using eminent domain for private gain is something the Cowboy and Indian Alliance stands against. We plan on using actions, prayer and all legal tools available to stop these risky pipelines.”

“We are looking at 6 new, high-pressure, large-diameter gas pipelines running through West Virginia. Not only are they not needed, but they are going to prove disaster for the region’s water, air, soil, and economy,” says April Keating of Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance. “We are already seeing landowner rights trampled, property values threatened, and a general disregard for the rights and health of human beings. Methane leakage is contributing hugely to global warming. If these pipelines go in, we will be locked into the same approach we’ve been suffering from for over a century.”

The gathering is to be hosted at the homestead of Tom and Becky Berlin, of Lewis County. Their farm is threatened by the ACP, but the MVP is only a few miles to the west of them. The 36” Stonewall-Momentum line, a much less heavily regulated gas line, was recently buried only a few hundred feet from their front door, and 25 feet from their property line. Construction from this intrastate line has already disturbed their peace of mind and their property values.

Tom is a retired environmental science professor and forester, his wife Becky a retired health professional. They have been actively engaged in protecting and stewarding the environment since the late 1960s. Tom says of the project, “We are supporting this planting project as a statement of solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the nation and world who are fighting against a system that is based on continuous and accelerating extraction of the wealth of the Earth to the detriment of local individuals, communities, and ecosystems, and the benefit of a few powerful and wealthy.”

Parking will be available near or adjacent to Tom Berlin’s 100-acre farm at 1833 Left Millstone Rd., Weston, WV 26452. Email apkeating@hotmail.com for directions.