Tag Archives: Pipeline

In win for nature & native rights Obama halts Dakota Access Pipeline construction

Standing Rock protest
Source: http://michaelawoodjr.net
This weekend, 11,000 veterans including Cong. Tulsi Gabbard began their journey to join the Standing Rock Sioux and offer both solidarity and protection to indigenous Americans and allies who have been protesting the scheduled construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through sacred native lands. On Sunday, Pres. Obama announced that a final construction permit for the pipeline would not be issued:

The Obama administration said Sunday that it would deny a permit needed to complete the last leg of an oil pipeline across the Midwest, prompting cheers and whoops from opponents who have camped in the cold here … (and) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it would deny the company the easement it needs. The agency also called for a full environmental review and re-evaluating whether the route of the pipeline should be altered.

The Young Turks reports on the administration’s decision.

Overwhelmed protestor Katie Robinson writes with joy

This is the most amazing news!!! I’m up here in Standing Rock. Our front line is celebrating. Tears of joy are streaming down faces. It was just announced the easement for the Dakota Pipeline was denied, which basically means the Pipeline CAN’T go through their Native land!!!! The Pipeline construction has STOPPED. There’s over 4,500 veterans here currently in support of the Water Protectors and more have been arriving non-stop all night and day. I couldn’t be prouder to be standing here with my brothers and sisters.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii)

tulsi-gabbard
Source: WikiMedia

..took to the House floor Thursday in an impassioned plea to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline… (She) is one of the .. veterans planning to join the ongoing pipeline protests … (and) blasted the Army Corps of Engineers for granting permits for the pipeline’s construction without input from the communities most likely to suffer in the event of a spill or explosion.

The pipeline issue has been settled for now but other concerns will soon need to be addressed. Angel L. Matos writes,

If indeed the #NODAPL permit has been denied, we thank the administration for yet another better late than never action. The next order of business would seem to be identifying all those in law enforcement that abused their authority and bring their asses to justice. The amount of savagery they unleashed on these peaceful demonstrators makes me ashamed and angry. The least we can do is make sure some measure of dignity is served to those that suffered at their sadistic hands.

And the WSJ cautions that President-elect Trump supports the pipeline’s construction.

More:
CNN coverage

Landowners near Scranton & activists set to face off against Pipeline builders who will clear cut their trees

protecting the land
Source: The Times-Tribune
Ted Glick reports on the environmental horror that’s about to begin in Northeast Pennsylvania:

Very possibly as early as tomorrow, chain-saw-armed tree cutters hired by Williams Partners, a powerful pipeline-building corporation for the gas and oil industry, will try to cut down sugar maple trees on the property of Maryann Zeffer, Cathy and Megan Holleran and their family. For 65 years they have lived on this land, and for the last ten or so they have been producing delicious, pure, Pennsylvania maple syrup from those trees.

This destruction won’t happen without a big fight. Nine days ago as I write, after FERC gave approval to Williams’ request to start tree cutting in Pa. even though Williams does not have all of the necessary approvals to build their Pa. to NY Constitution pipeline, an encampment was set up on the Zeffer/Holleran land. Every day since people have been there.

The implacable Williams Partners pipeline builders aka land destroyers and water polluters, has obtained the go-ahead from FERC to begin clear-cutting more private land on 160 Pennsylvania properties than they need to lay a pipeline for transporting fracked fuel through Pennsylvania to New York. Williams got the red light to proceed even though they lack all the necessary permits and have not paid for some of the land they plan to access. They acquired some of the land through eminent domain seizure and will cut down more trees than the pipeline requires to give themselves “working space”.

The families of Cathy and Megan Holleran and Maryann Zeffer fought the pipeline builders in court for well over a year. With tree felling now about to begin, they’ve taking their battle to the public. Anti-fracking/anti-pipeline and clean water activists, environmentalists and the press have been summoned to witness the Holleran/Zeffers take a stand against the usurpation of their land rights and the destruction of their beautiful maple syrup kingdom and stand with them, if they’re willing to risk being arrested. These people’s little slice of Paradise is a 1/2 hour drive north of Scranton, PA.

The family loves these 22 acres that Catherine Holleran’s parents bought in the late 1950s, when they escaped to the Endless Mountains from Long Island.

Sturdy maples, cherries and other hardwoods rise from their property’s steep eastern hillside. A small creek-fed lake lies at the bottom of the gentle valley. Across a strip of trees, a grassy field rises to the north. It’s a place for syrup making and snowmobiling in the winter, lake parties and off-roading in the summer.

Constitution’s designs call for a 30-inch pipe laid in an S-shaped strip across 1,670 linear feet of their land. The permanent easement would be 50 feet wide, but the company would fell timber in a wider area to create work space. The family doesn’t want to lose the trees or the quality of their lake, which they fear could fill with sediment despite the company’s stated policies of controlling erosion.

The five Zeffer siblings — Ms. Holleran’s maiden name — want to pass the land on to their children the way it is, “without a big stupid pipeline,” Ms. Holleran said.

If you wish to join or support the resistance, here’s the information you need:
Holleran property is at 2131 Three Lakes Road, New Milford, PA. But use these coordinates to find the location where people have gathered to stop the tree cutting: 41.8272387, -75.7585062

Contacts: Megan Holleran 570-709-3268 and Alex Lotorto (after 5PM) 570-269-9589

Visit Stop the Constitution Pipeline Facebook group

Hat tip to Theresa Lam for the share

Assembly Dems act to protect NJ from pipeline tragedy like Montana’s

McKeon & Jasey
Assemblywoman Mila Jasey and Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex/Morris) reiterated their opposition to the proposal for the Pilgrim Pipeline, a 178-mile oil pipeline that would cross 30 New Jersey municipalities, after a Montana pipeline breached on Saturday January 17 2015, spilling up to 50,000 gallons of crude oil, some of which seeped into the Yellowstone River and has contaminated the local water supply. They fear that the Albany, NY to Linden, NJ Pilgrim Oil Pipelines could cause a similar disaster in New Jersey.

No Pilgrim Pipeline

“Presumably, Bridger Pipeline told the people of Montana that this catastrophe was utterly impossible – just like Pilgrim Pipeline has tried to placate us with claims that advanced technology makes pipelines safe – but the Montana residents whose tap water smells and tastes like oil unfortunately now know all too well the very real threat an oil pipeline is to land, water and the public’s health and safety,” said Jasey. “Safe drinking water is a fundamental human need, and particularly in light of this – the most recent of far too many examples – we will continue to do everything possible to ensure that New Jersey never faces a similar disaster.”

Jasey noted that constituents have expressed their disapproval of the Pilgrim Pipeline proposal at numerous community meetings. The legislators plan to hold more public forums to hear the concerns of local residents.

“The Pilgrim Pipeline project simply is not right for New Jersey, and our residents have made their stance against it absolutely clear. In addition to denouncing the potential for the Pilgrim Pipeline to contaminate the Highlands, which supply drinking water for two-thirds of New Jersey’s residents, they reject exposing the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, home to numerous plants and animals, to one of the most flammable fuels in the world,” said McKeon. “The oil spill in Montana is a tragic manifestation of every fear New Jersey families and environmental advocates have about the Pilgrim Pipeline proposal. Our first priority is always protecting the people and natural beauty of New Jersey, and as such, we will remain steadfast in fighting against this plan.”

Jasey and McKeon are sponsors of a bipartisan resolution to oppose the Pilgrim Pipeline project (AR-191). The measure in December gained Assembly approval.

Keystone XL will NOT reduce foreign oil imports or help US

KXL Action
Some Americans believe corrupt politicians who have spent taxpayer money trying ~40 times to cancel the healthcare services were put in place by Obama for people who really need them. The same people probably believe that the Keystone XL (KXL aka Tar Sands) Pipeline will benefit us.

The Washington Post Fact Checker gave 3 Pinocchio rating to the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline promoter’s ad claiming benefits it won’t produce, saying “We wavered between Two and Three Pinocchios. But ultimately we decided that given this is an ad for a pipeline to import Canadian crude oil into the United States, it’s really worthy of a late-night satire.” The Wapo’s researcher learned that the Keystone XL Pipeline

…will NOT reduce foreign oil dependence or even Middle East oil dependence:

Okay, but viewers of the ad might be forgiven if they did not realize this fact: The United States currently imports more oil from Canada than it does from the entire Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Moreover, oil from the tar sands of Canada is expected to replace crude from Venezuela (which one could argue is not a friendly country) or Mexico. The Middle East is really not part of the equation.

and it will not reduce oil prices!

“The price of international oil prices has no impact on the operation of our pipeline and we do not profit from changing market changes,” TransCanada says in a fact sheet. “Prices are set on a global level.” In other words, if oil prices spike because of unrest in the Middle East, the impact will still be felt in the United States.

After being refined, pipeline oil will probably not even stay in America. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Much of the crude oil that would flow down the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline would likely be exported as refined products by U.S. companies—a prospect that is stirring further debate over whether the project serves the nation’s best interest.

The pipeline won’t create 40,000 construction jobs as claimed, since most of those jobs will be temporary and won’t even run a full year. According to the State Department, the number of construction jobs created will be 3900. The rest of the 36,100 jobs the KXL marketers want to claim credit for is the benefit which will supposedly disperse all across the United States when 3900 construction workers spend the money they make until their temporary construction jobs end.

In other words, you have to assume that money spent in Nebraska eventually helps a bartender in New York or a dancer in San Francisco

TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard explains this reckoning:

“We track the jobs associated with our project in the same fashion that the U.S. Department of Labor does and believe that every job – whether it is temporary or full-time – is important for the workers and communities involved.”