Crawberry Hill anti-fracking camp was evicted yesterday (21/1/15), with 3 arrests.
It had been up and running for 8 months, including an occupation of the fracking pad itself in in early August of last year.
For more info:
A weekend gathering for people involved or wanting to know more about ecological direct action around the UK including fighting opencast coal, fracking, GM, nuclear power, new road building and quarries with discussions and campaign planning – emphasis on the tactics and strategies, community solidarity and sustainable activism.
Sharing stories, skills, tactics, updates & analyses of the radical ecological movement
Cost scale £20 to £30 . This includes full vegan meals and accommodation. Arrive Friday evening (programme starts at 7pm), leave Sunday (ends by 4pm). It will be an indoor floor sleeping space so bring a warm sleeping bag and mat to…
Kebele Community Centre 14 Robertson Road Easton Bristol BS5 6JY
Train—To Stapleton rd , two stops from Bristol TM then 7min walk —
Earth First! is a network of people and campaigns who fight ecological destruction and the forces driving it. We believe in non-hierarchical organising of Direct Action, to confront, stop and eventually reverse the forces that are responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants. EF! is not a cohesive group or campaign, but a convenient banner for people who share similar philosophies to work under and doing it ourselves rather than relying on governments or industry.
For info or offers southwest.earthfirst@riseup.net www.earthfirst.org.uk
Download the (ready-to-print) flyer
Programme subject to change:
Starts 7pm Friday with dinner, followed by films & an intro to EF!
On Saturday, breakfast is before the 9:30am start with campaigns round-ups and legal & security workshops. After lunch we'll be looking at strategic thinking (see below) and at 5 exploring the relationship between Reclaim the Power and EF!
On Sunday we'll continue those explorations from 10am. After lunch, there'll be a workshop on sustainable activism, and a chance to get involved in organising the EF! Summer Gathering. Please stay for that if you can and get involved.
Workshops include:
“Intelligent Resistance: strategy and its implementation in the modern world”
Summary: Strong strategy has always been a key element of successful resistance movements. Whether it be the anarchist movements of revolutionary Spain, or the contemporary fight against fracking, a solid strategy is proven to be indispensable.‘Intelligent Resistance’ is a basic introduction to strategic thought and action and looks to provide those in attendance with a practical set of theoretical tools to take away and apply to their own movements and practice.
“Sustaining Resistance: avoiding ‘Burn out”
This is a taster workshop from a much longer ten day workshop and offers a range of tools, collective and personal, which can make our activism more effective and help us avoid burn out staying in for the long haul.
Reclaim the Power meets Earth First!”
How can Earth First! and Reclaim the power coexist in the future struggles and is there a need for collaboration between other camps or a consolidation of resources?
Legal Defence Monitoring:
A taster session in how to be an effective LDM on actions and demos.
Campaigns go-round:
Dates for your diary and what resistance is going on around the world and your back yard..
by Sasha / Earth First! Journal
We have heard a lot about what stopped the fracking boom in New York after Governor Cuomo banned it last week.
While some insist that faltering prices that did the gas boom in, others credit the seven-year legal battle with stopped the practice. The running narrative is that it’s a combination of grassroots political involvement—going to public hearings, submitting comments, and doing ecological studies. But there’s another element people aren’t talking about as much.
What we don’t hear about is the intense blossoming of direct action that has generated a network of several Earth First! groups who have been working diligently to shut down fracking operations and natural gas infrastructure for the last six years. This movement spans a gamut of tactics, from protests to blockades to other escapades. It has been upsetting business as usual, costing the corporations money and the politicians credit.
In short, it’s working.
EF! in the Mix
The Marcellus Shale Earth First! Network sprung into action soon after the first wells started getting tested, and rapidly assembled several groups around the Marcellus, including Hudson Valley EF! (HVEF!) and Finger Lakes EF! (FLEF!), which have been active in direct action struggles.
In May of this year, Hudson Valley Earth First! (HVEF!) disrupted the 9th annual Northeast Power and Gas Markets Conference in New York City, sending home the message that fracking would not be accepted in the state.
Other groups involved have been Susquehanna Valley EF!, Genessee Valley EF!, and Occupy WELL Street.
“This campaign has been going on for almost two years, but now it’s getting serious,” said April Rogers, a member of HVEF! “If trucks show up, we’ll be there to stop them!”
Indeed, two years before the disruption in NYC, HVEF! stopped construction on a compressor station in Minisink, NY, along the Millenium Pipeline.
EF! has been engaged in this movement since the Newswire has been in existence, protesting outside of public hearings, drawing a spotlight with outrageous actions, and growing the movement.
In Winter of last year, MSEF! went on an extensive tour of New York and Pennsylvania, spreading the good word about direct action against fracking after a crucial victory defending the Loyalsock State Forest from fracking in Pennsylvania.
As the collective put it at the time, “MSEF! is a creative and growing movement, and sharing our struggle with others around PA and NY made it clear that the campaign to defend the Loyalsock is one that will unite many people.”
Prior to halting fracking in the Loyalsock, MSEF! engaged in a prolonged campaign against the Tennessee Pipeline through a lockdown, two consecutive treesits, and a two-week road blockade matched with a nine-day treesit.
The MSEF! network also shut down fracking operations in the Tiadaghton State Forest earlier this year and blockaded fracking trucks in the Moshannon State Forest in 2012.
Despite tremendous resistance, fracking in Pennsylvania is still going on, and activists continue to work to shut it down.
The Infrastructure Fight Still Needs Support
While the EF! network has been holding action camps and engaging in a number of campaigns, perhaps the largest of the area’s anti-gas struggles has been the We Are Seneca Lake campaign.
In a three-week blockade this November, 19 people were arrested halting construction of Crestwood Midstream’s gas storage facility on Seneca Lake.
Just this month, more than 100 people attended a demonstration outside of the court where the arrested were being arraigned. That day, nine more people were arrested locking themselves to the gates of Crestwood’s facility.
This came after a peaceful blockade in March which saw the arrest of 12 activists. Three more were arrested at their trial in April.
In total, some 92 people have been arrested in the movement to halt the Crestwood facility—a rousing campaign that is ongoing and needs your support!
If the movement against gas transport and storage is still raging in New York, its visibility has thrown the spotlight on the controversial practice of fracking as well. Chesapeake EF! is involved in the ongoing campaign against fracking exports in the Maryland Cove Point facility, and other campaigns continue to build steam.
Movement Builders
The victory in New York is a key movement builder, because it helps us recognize the components that make them happen, and focus on the campaigns that need support with greater numbers and resources.
Direct action is just one piece of the larger puzzle to stop industrial exploitation and destruction of land and livelihood. And, with community rights movements, legal battles, and protest movements, it’s winning.
It is important to note that these actions have taken place not just in New York, but in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well. This is a bioregional struggle, and claiming success in New York is not the end. The movement to stop fracking won’t stop at legal battles; it relies on the vigilance of communities impacted by the unsafe practices, and it will continue to expand throughout the Marcellus Shale until all fracking operations are shut down once and for all.
No Compromise!
December 17th, 2014
The New England group Fighting Against Natural Gas has conducted two rousing actions in the last two days against greenwashing, fracking, and energy infrastructure.
December 17th, 2014
The New England group Fighting Against Natural Gas has conducted two rousing actions in the last two days against greenwashing, fracking, and energy infrastructure.
Here is the statement from FANG:
On Wednesday morning a group of New Englanders were arrested for occupying and shutting down the offices of Spectra Energy to protest the company’s plans to expand a network of fracked gas pipelines in the region.
The group deployed multiple banners demanding funders divest from Spectra Energy due to the impacts of the company’s projects to local communities and the climate, with one of them hanging from a 24 foot tripod and refusing to leave.
“As long as Spectra is committed to the business of devastating local health and the climate, we’re committed to disrupting their business.”
This action took place one day after a sit-in at Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s office. Another statement:
“A group of fifteen police officers just cleared the occupation of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s office. Peter Nightengale a professor of physics at URI was arrested.
Everyone – please don’t think of Senator Whitehouse as a “climate champion” anymore. At least until he stops supporting the Spectra pipeline and he stops having climate activists arrested.”
27/11/14 – camp eviction:
27/11/14 – camp eviction:
Bailiffs have arrived a tBorras & Holt Protection Camp which has been under threat of eviction for several days.
Police have also blocked off road access to the anti-fracking camp.
Borras Road near Wrexham has been blocked since 9am, with the police reported to have arrived on site at 8.30am.
Locals also turned up to support protesters this morning expressing further serious concerns over the environmental impact of unconventional underground gas extraction. About 13 police officers were by the camp, monitoring proceedings while Baliffs got to work dismantling the structures.
At one point, a 'Legal Observer' tried to get over the fence into the camp on a number of occasions but was man-handled back over the gate by Baliffs. Eventually he was led away by police and arrested for Breach of the Peace.
After about 5 hours, all protectors were removed from the camp, and a new one was set up across the road!
21st Nov 2014
21st Nov 2014
Anti- fracking campaigners in Wrexham have until midnight tonight to leave a protest camp.
It comes after a failed courtroom bid today to stop bailiffs evicting them.
The protesters have not yet revealed whether they will comply with the order to hand back the land to the farmers who own it or resist the bailiffs.
Last month, protesters set up the Borras Community Protection Camp at Commonwood Farm, Wrexham to campaign against plans by GP Energy to explore the extraction of gas there.
Several weeks on and the small scale camp has been turned into a mini-community complete with a watchtower, shower, extended kitchen with food stocks, a caravan rest area, tepee play area for children and toilets.
Today’s Manchester High Court case involved an application on behalf of father and son landowners Terence Andrew Jones and Terence Neal Jones against persons unknown to take possession of the land where test drilling for gas is planneded.
The landowners were represented by a Queens’s Counsel barrister.
Marc Jones, of Frack Free Wrexham group, said the judge granted the “persons unknown” permission to stay at the site until 11.59pm on Friday when their camp must be cleared.
If the campers are not gone by the deadline then bailiffs can move in over the weekend.
Mr Jones said: “The option is to leave the site or stay there.”
Protesters against underground test drilling for gas had said they have been overwhelmed by the support they have received.
One of the protesters Chrissy, who did not wish to give her second name, said the level of support from the local community had been great.
She has said: “We have had so much support it has been overwhelming. The people around here are so much more clued up about what is going on and want to get involved.
“In other areas where we have been protesting and organised a public meeting, usually you get 20 people attending, 30 would be considered good.
“But when we had the first meeting at the Cunliffe Arms here, we had 150 people which was fantastic.
“People have been dropping off all kinds of supplies for us, from food to wood to build our shelters and burn for heat. We asked for one fire extinguisher and got 10. It’s amazing how quick this camp has built up.”
The camp was set up after Wrexham Council’s decision to refuse proposals to drill for underground gas there, was overturned.
Underground gas drilling has been shrouded in controversy across the world.
19.10.2014
19.10.2014
GP Energy (who were bought out by Dart who in turn have been bought out by IGas) applied for planning permission to do an exploratory drill for coal bed methane (CBM) at Borras, Wrexham. Frack-off describes coal bed methane as the evil twin of shale gas. Wrexham council refused the application back in March after at lot of work by local people to educate the planning committee on the dangers of unconventional gas extraction. The success of this was at least in part due to increased awareness of the issues as a result of a test drill happening at the same time in nearby Farndon. Unfortunately, the Wales Planning Inspector overturned the council's decision earlier this month – on some distinctly dodgy grounds – and the site is now under imminent threat of test drilling, even though it is in an area where the government's own report has indicated CBM extraction isn't feasible due to the geology.
A public meeting has been called for 23 October in Borras but, in advance of that, the site has been occupied this weekend and a community protection camp set up. Support (including more campers) and supplies needed. Please get there if you can. Postcode LL13 9TG. There's a camp Facebook group or you can contact Frack-Free Wrexham for more information.
Camp flier
Flier for meeting and camp info
Around 25 people were on site this afternoon. Those who had been camping since Friday said they were overwhelmed with the number of people who'd called round to the camp to wish them well and drop off supplies, water, building materials, camping gear and all sorts of other useful stuff. As well as a group of tents in the middle, a compost toilet had already been built, as well as a shelter by the fire and a kitchen under construction.
Community Protection Camps can only succeed with the support of the local community, so if you live locally, or further afield, and care about protecting the countryside, air, water, food… (property owners might also care about their property values which are liable to plummet in areas where drilling goes ahead), please call in to the camp and see what's needed. There's a warm welcome for all friendly visitors – just turn up. Police presence so far has been low key.
The site is quite muddy, particularly around the gate, so bear that in mind if you're planning to go into the field. If you're driving, parking is possible on the verge alongside the gate and if you're travelling by bus, the site is about 1 mile from the Holt Lodge Inn. Take the turning nearly opposite the Holt Lodge into Shepherds Rd. Follow this road right to the end, turn left at the T-junction and the site is on the left just after the Borras village sign. The C56 bus from Wrexham or Chester, both of which have railway stations, stops at the Holt Lodge Inn. A camp phone number will be available soon.
Frack Free Wrexham
e-mail: frackfreewrexham [AT] riseup.net
October 16th, 2014
October 16th, 2014
A protest group has set up camp near Horley to protect a site from possible fracking following news that oil ‘shows’ at Horse Hill after weeks of exploration.
Horse Hill Developments has been drilling at the Horse Hill site since the beginning of September with a promise to campaigners that it would not be fracking there, but Frack Free Surrey fear the company is testing the ground for future projects in the Weald.
The company does not currently have a license to frack, but stated on September 18 that “the information gained through these activities will provide valuable insights into the technical and economic viability of unconventional development elsewhere in the Weald Basin”.
More than 80 people attended a meeting held by Redhill Greens and Frack Free Surrey on Monday (October 13), to discuss the drilling and the possible threat of fracking across the weald.
Rob Basto, from Frack Free Surrey, said:“If fracking goes ahead in the area it could result in thousands of wells in the south-east with disastrous consequences – for our local environment and the global climate. We are utterly opposed to any new fossil fuel development in our area.”
Brenda Pollack, from Friends of the Earth, said campaigners are concerned as many companies are now “salami slicing” their applications, in order to have a greater chance of success. Exploratory licences are granted in the first stage, which means a fracking licence can be easier to get once industrial work has already taken place on the land.
But Ms Pollack said campaigners were keen not to scare monger.
She said: “We are concerned that ultimately the company wants to extract shale oil. The site is in the Weald Basin – an area known to contain oil trapped in shale rock. While they may be using conventional techniques at this testing phase, there is every reason to believe it could lead to fracking.
“Chasing difficult to reach fossil fuels is not the answer to our energy problems. Surrey should be investing in cleaner renewable energy projects to help reduce the impacts of climate change.”
Campaigners have set up camp at the Horse Hill site near Horley
Ms Pollack said many people are concerned as Magellan Petroleum
Corporation, who have a 35% stake in Horse Hill Developments, are also partnered with Celtique Energy who recently had an application turned down to drill at Nine Acre Copse in Fernhurst.
In September, Scott Bradley, chief executive of Horse Hill Developments Limited, said: “We are delighted with the progress being made and the drilling performance to date. We now look forward to the next phase of this conventional project and await our target evaluation results eagerly.”
September 17th, 2014
September 17th, 2014
Two men were arrested on September 16 after chaining themselves to pipe being laid for Vermont Gas’ fracked gas pipeline. The action took place a day before the Vermont Public Service Board begins a process which could result in the revoking of the permits required for Vermont Gas to continue construction.
“Vermont Gas lied,” said Will Bennington, a spokesperson for Rising Tide Vermont. “They’ve lied about the climate and environmental impacts of the project, they’ve lied to landowners and broken promises, and now they’ve lied about the cost of this project. The Public Service Board, and ultimately Governor Shumlin, have no reason to believe Vermont Gas is acting in the public good.”
Demonstrators oppose the pipeline because it will lock Vermont communities into decades more of dirty fossil fuel use, at a time when a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and extreme energy use is needed. They are also concerned with impacts to local landowners and the lack of transparency surrounding the permitting process.
The Public Service Board is hosting a hearing tomorrow in Montpelier to decide whether or not to re-open the company’s Certificate of Public Good.
