200 Rally in Support of First Ten ‘WE ARE SENECA LAKE’ Arrested Protesters Arraignment; One Goes to Jail, Other Nine Returning to Court on November 19th Watkins Glen, NY – The arraignment for the 10 protesters arrested for blocking Texas-based Crestwood Midstream’s gas storage facility gates on October 29 ended today with one protester, Dwain Wilder, choosing to serve a 15 day jail sentence rather than pay a fine, and the other nine scheduled to return to court on November 19th due to judge’s uncertainty surrounding the charges of seven defendants and that the absence of the District Attorney in the courtroom. Two protesters plead not guilty and were also ordered to appear on November 19th. 200 community members came out to the Town of Reading court in support of the arrested protesters, including winery owners and other local business owners. The first 10 arrested protesters whose arraignment happened on Wednesday, November 5, are: Master Sergeant Colleen Boland-US Air Force (retired) of Elmira, Author and biologist Dr. Sandra Steingraber of Trumansburg, 76 year old mother and grandmother Jeanne Judson and her son Patrick of Burdett, Patricia Heckart of Trumansburg, Roland Micklem of Geneva, Chuck Geisler of Ithaca, Nancy Kasper of North Rose, Katherine Rossiter of Sayre, PA, and Dwain Wilder of Rochester. Read more about the arrested protesters at wearesenecalake/seneca-lake-defendes/. Colleen Boland, who was arrested in a civilianized version of her Air Force uniform, said, I retired from the U.S. military in 1995 as an Air Force Senior Master Sergeant. I served 4 years in the Army and another 13+ in the Air Force. I feel that by engaging in civil disobedience, I am continuing my service to my country in order to protect the health and safety of my fellow citizens. With the industrialization of this rich agrarian region that is encroaching upon us—unabated and from every direction—by the oil and gas industry, I reluctantly pulled out my boot polish and dusted off my fruit salad of awards and decorations and prepared to serve in a new way. Crestwood must go. Protesters have been blocking the Crestwood gas storage facility gates since Thursday, October 23, including a rally with more than 200 people on Friday, October 24th. On Wednesday, October 29, Crestwood called the police and the first 10 protesters were arrested. Yesterday, November 3rd, another 15 protesters were arrested. More information and pictures of the actions are available at WeAreSenecaLake. Jeanne Judson of Burdett said, My life began in Schuyler County in 1938, and I’ve lived 62 of my 76 years here. Three generations of my family have lived along the shores of this lake. I am a defendant in this court because an out-of-state energy company is threatening my community’s source of water. We drink it, we cook with it, we bathe in, and we fish in it. I am proud to defend water, which is life itself.” I grew up in the church. My dad and mom taught me to be responsible for God’s creation and to be responsible for the health and well-being of my neighbors and community. I see Crestwood as a direct threat to all that. I will do everything in my power to protect my community from this danger. That includes protecting the judge and his family and the police who arrest us. Most importantly, I’m protecting the children, who are left out of the decision-making but who will pay the price. The legacy we must leave our community’s children is a healthy future, said Patrick Judson, age 39, Burdett, son of Jeanne Judson. The unified We Are Seneca Lake protests started on October 23rd because Friday, October 24th marked the day that major new construction on the gas storage facility was authorized to begin. The ongoing acts of civil disobedience come after the community pursued every possible avenue to stop the project and after being thwarted by an unacceptable process and denial of science. Lou Damiani of Damiani Vineyards, who came out to the rally in support, said, Dangerous gas storage in the Crestwood salt caverns is incompatible with the rapid growth of our wine and tourism industries. The protests are taking place at the gates of the Crestwood compressor station site on the shore of Seneca Lake, the largest of New York’s Finger Lakes. The methane gas storage expansion project is advancing in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of the lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. Crestwood has indicated that it intends to make Seneca Lake the gas storage and transportation hub for the northeast, as part of the gas industrys planned expansion of infrastructure across the region. *Note that the WE ARE SENECA LAKE protest is to stop the expansion of methane gas storage, a separate project from Crestwood’s proposed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage project, which is on hold pending a Department of Environmental Conservation Issues Conference. As they have for a long time, the protesters are continuing to call on President Obama, U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Governor Cuomo, and Congressman Reed to intervene on behalf of the community and halt the dangerous project. In spite of overwhelming opposition, grave geological and public health concerns, Crestwood has federal approval to move forward with plans to store highly pressurized, explosive gas in abandoned salt caverns on the west side of Seneca Lake. While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has temporarily halted plans to stockpile propane and butane (LPG) in nearby caverns—out of ongoing concerns for safety, health, and the environment—Crestwood is actively constructing infrastructure for the storage of two billion cubic feet of methane (natural gas), with the blessing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). More background, including about the broad extent of the opposition from hundreds of wineries and more than a dozen local municipalities, is available on the We Are Seneca Lake website at wearesenecalake/press-kit/.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 23:02:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015