After yesterday’s audacious move by TransCanada to cut around the west side of the tree blockade and completely outside of the designated Keystone XL pathway, or easement, blockaders have taken action.
In the middle of the night blockaders erected a 30 foot high timber pole in the newly clear-cut pathway. Lifelong Texan Mary Germanati has climbed atop the pole and is refusing to come down until the Keystone XL pipeline is stopped for good. The pole is a free standing structure that’s safely supported by numerous life-line ropes to keep it upright. If TransCanada moves to sever these support ropes it could seriously injure Germanati. Yesterday their machinery was operating so close that it shook the timber scaffolding wall and severed ropes attached to nearby trees intended to keep a safe buffer between the machinery and the blockaders. Now that we are livestreaming our hope is that the eyes of the world will prevent them from recklessly endangering peaceful protestors.
UPDATE: 9:00AM – Sheriff Arrives and Tries to Talk Blockader Down From Her Pole
UPDATE: 10:00AM – Livestream is Down Due to Technical Difficulties
Sorry folks, we’re doing our best down here in the backwoods of East Texas. Thanks for your patience as we attempt to bring you live footage of the tree blockade. You can help us buy the technical equipment we need to continually improve the quality of the coverage.
UPDATE: 11:00AM – Workers and Sheriff Unsure How to Get Mary Down – Situation is Steady
Blockaders on the ground have been talking with TransCanada workers to explain how they are unable to proceed with today’s clear-cutting operation because Mary is securely up a 40 foot pole in their pathway. Workers and the sheriff are unsure how to get Mary down from her blockade. A TransCanada worker is filming everyone, hence we’ve been wearing masks for our own legal protection.
UPDATE: 1:00PM – TransCanada Workers in the Distance – Mary Holding Strong After yesterday’s close encounters with TransCanada’s heavy machinery operating dangerously close to peaceful tree blockaders things are calm today. It seems that Mary’s presence on a 40 foot pole in the clear-cut path of the Keystone XL has deterred their operations for the day. Workers and police are still milling around on the ground. The only sound audible from the tree blockade is a wood-chipper and excavator moving slash piles of felled trees further away along the clear-cut scar. Hold strong Mary!
UPDATE: 5:00PM – Mary’s Action Stopped All New Clear-Cutting Today
Lifelong Texan Mary Germanati remains quietly perched on top of her 40 foot pole in the middle of Keystone XL clear-cutting site. TransCanada workers and police, unsure of how to deal with Mary, avoided her all day and didn’t bring the heavy machinery back to the clear-cut they had begun the day before. About a dozen workers on foot and four-wheelers roamed around on the ground.