“Spectra Showdown” protest against fracking in New York City, Sep. 6, 2012
“Spectra Showdown” protest against fracking in New York City, Sep. 6, 2012
“Today [Sep 6] the ongoing protest called “Spectra Showdown,” [in New York City]has finally turned into the scene of civil disobedience that the group has been anticipating. At least two people have been reportedly arrested.
“After pre-construction in July, Spectra Energy begins a new phase of construction today that has involved shipments of materials on a barge on the Hudson and from the West Side Highway. Spectra hardhats were seen on people digging at 8:30 this morning right next to the bike path while protesters gathered next to them. A barge with a crane was on the River. The protesters held banners but it wasn’t until after 10 AM that it was tweeted that two were arrested.
“The protest has been against hydrofracking (a process being used to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus shale fields of Pennsylvania and the general bioregion).”
ALF FREE 123 DUCKS FROM FACTORY FARM
"In Norfolk UK on the 26th of August 2012 a cruel factory farm breeding ducks for meat in which they were fed on growth exhilarating chemicals and have no access to water for swimming and living in their natural way, had it's fence cut open, doors smashed in and 123 prisoners freed and sent to loving temporary homes, soon to be freed back into the wild.
"In Norfolk UK on the 26th of August 2012 a cruel factory farm breeding ducks for meat in which they were fed on growth exhilarating chemicals and have no access to water for swimming and living in their natural way, had it's fence cut open, doors smashed in and 123 prisoners freed and sent to loving temporary homes, soon to be freed back into the wild.
This is not hard, all of you compassionate people CAN JUST DO THIS! Take action tonight. Hit them hard and hit them often right where it hurts. You do not have to be a ninja to liberate, you just need good bolt cutters, some strong boxes and homes offered by people you can trust.
Until all cages are empty and all prisoners freed from abuse and exploitation, we will continue the war.
For Liberty and Justice for all
The ALF"
Flurry of Anti-Fossil Fuel Direct Actions
Three activists from Tar Sands Blockade locked themselves to construction equipment near Saltillo, TX this morning, shutting down the construction site completely.
Three activists from Tar Sands Blockade locked themselves to construction equipment near Saltillo, TX this morning, shutting down the construction site completely. As of the latest update, workers and police had all left the site, leaving the blockade intact.
The action is the third so far for Tar Sands Blocakde, a group devoted to stopping TransCanada’s plan to expand the Keystone XL Pipeline to transport oil from the Alberta Tar Sands to Texas. It follows only days upon an August 28 action, when four activists locked themselves to the underside of a truck actually carrying a piece of the planned pipeline. A total of seven protesters were arrested, but not before all Keystone construction transportation for the southern segment was shut down for a full day.
In an unrelated action targeting big energy infrastructure, more than 150 protesters from Everglades Earth First! and Occupy Wall Street blockaded the access roads to TECO’s Big Bend coal plant on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay, FL on Aug 31, coinciding with the last day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
According to a press release, “Earth First! activists chose this day for their protest in order to highlight Mitt Romney’s plan to expand what the group calls the “energy empire” which favors the interest of big donors in oil, gas and coal industries.” TECO was also chosen for its involvement in mountaintop removal coal mining.
The plant was successfully blockaded for nearly four hours. Seven people were arrested. And as a bonus: the action led freaked-out authorities to temporarily shut down the Port of Tampa!
Parma: Three mobile phone masts set on fire in solidarity with imprisoned comrades (Italy)
We receive from anonymous mail and transmit:
We receive from anonymous mail and transmit:
In the night between 29th and 30th August we set three mobile phone masts on fire in the vicinity of Parma west exit on the A1 highway. The landscape where the masts stood include, in the space of a few hundred metres, a railway track with adjoining yards, power plants, a highway, intensive farming facilities, factories and luxury villas. Many of these infrastructures feed the mega monster of the technological and industrial machinery and the insatiable thirst for energy and mobility required by the western civilized lifestyle.
Each of these structures only inspires us to destroy them and the desire to put an end to this absurd world, as we are proud to be untameable social misfits! To all the indomitable warriors burning with the instinct of freedom!
This is for you, Marco, brother and comrade! May action spread for all our comrades in prison!
Solidarity with Elisa, Ale, Katia, Sergio, Paola, Stefano, Giulia and Peppe in prison for operation Ardire, to Gabriel Pombo Da Silva and the investigated in operation Mangiafuoco.
‘Long-Live Luciano Tortuga Cell – International Conspiracy for Revenge – FAI / FRI’ attack electrical substation with incendiary device in Manado (Indonesia)
From Membakar Senj[a]:
From Membakar Senj[a]:
It’s always a reason to say that the lack of numbers is the main reason. But for us the only obstacle is fear. Theories, reasons and situations are the walls of the labyrinth which always became a reason for obstruction and restriction. As well as the accusations that the kidnapping of two members, of our comrades Billy and Eat, is a barrier to the ongoing actions for destruction.
On August 23, at a power plant in Kotamobagu, North Sulawesi, we put an incendiary device that failed to ignite. We were disappointed with ourselves and the ability of each individual who was involved in the attack. But on the other hand, we learned that no one should regret. Tonight August 31, we re-commit to do the same “crimes”. Leaving the device in order to burn an electrical substation in Tuminting, Manado.
The goal is clear. We are angry. Really angry!
This action is also as a response and as an answer to the unlimited solidarity from many rebellion comrades and companer@s.
To the uncontrolled and brave comrades in the darkness of Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Greece, Argentina, and England as well as to other places that were never mentioned.
To Olga and all the comrades from Conspiracy of Cells of Fire and Tasos Theofilou who was recently arrested because he was an anarchist. Also we do not forget to mention Theofilos Mavropoulos, Gabriel Pombo da Silva, Rami Syrianos, and Marco Camenisch who are undergoing a hunger strike. All of you are rebels who inspired us despite the fact that you are seized behind bars.
To Luciano Tortuga and Mario Lopez, also never forget to mention Ivan Silva and Carla Verdugo in Chile. Henry Zegarrundo, Juan Aliste Vega, Freddy Fuentevilla Saa, Marcelo Villarroel Sepúlveda also are an inspiration. Do not forget to dissidents like Felicity Ryder, Nikos Maziotis and Pola Roupa also lastly to K. The fugitive member of the Long Live Luciano Tortuga Cell, Informal Anarchist Federation / International Revolutionary Front (FAI / FRI).
But with fully of shame in our face we mention our two brothers in struggle, members of Long Live Luciano Tortuga Cell, Informal Anarchist Federation / International Revolutionary Front; Billy Augustan and Reyhard Rumbayan (Eat). Also do not forget the brave one of Kulonprogo; Tukijo. For those we send our greetings with the lights of fire from the street. To them we are sending our love.
These actions are also as a manifestation of anger and disappointment.
Impatience for those rebels who after attacks returned to run and hide and spent long time to keep waiting, including us.
Comrades, it is time to strike back.
Do not wait. Time to light it up!
Long Live Anarchy!
USA: Six Arrested Blocking Road in front of Duke Energy HQ During DNC
Protesters sitting on a banner that reads “Duke is destroying our earth with taxpayer dollars” were arrested Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Tryon and Stonewall streets, near the Duke Energy building. Photo: Meghan Cooke
Six protesters were taken away in handcuffs earlier Thursday near the corporate headquarters for Duke Energy. They had locked arms and were sitting on top of a banner claiming that the energy company was harming the environment.
Two dozen officers surrounded them and eventually lifted up the protesters, who refused to move. They then put them into prisoner transport vans.
Just before her arrest, 26-year-old Christina Mounce of Casper, W. Virginia, criticized the utility company for burning coal and running nuclear power plants.
“We want President Obama to stop accepting their campaign money,” said Mounce, a marine biologist. “The president is setting a horrible example by being linked with them.”
The demonstrators at Stonewall and Tryon streets said they were demanding an audience with Jim Rogers, the CEO of Duke Energy.
The others arrested were Amelia Campbell, 22, of Boulder, Colo.; Audrey Campbell, 22, of Boulder, Colo.; Richard French, 39, of Farmington, N.M.; Matthew Goodsell, 56; and Michael Joseph Stewart, 25, of Lakewood, Colo. All were charged with impeding traffic.
Counting Thursday’s detentions, a total of 25 protesters were arrested or taken away in handcuffs during the three-day convention, which ended Thursday night.
Fracking on trial verdict
An environmental activist who climbed a drilling rig in a protest against fracking in December last year was today found guilty under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act at Preston Magistrates Court. She was ordered to pay a £250 fine and £750 costs.
An environmental activist who climbed a drilling rig in a protest against fracking in December last year was today found guilty under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act at Preston Magistrates Court. She was ordered to pay a £250 fine and £750 costs.
On 1 December 2011, protestors from Bristol Rising Tide occupied the test drilling rig, at Cuadrilla Resource’s Hesketh Bank site, Lancashire, shutting it down for 13 hours. (2) (3)
During the trial, it emerged that Cuadrilla had continued drilling for two months after their planning permission had expired.
In her final submission, the defence barrister, Farraht Arshad said of her client:
“As a concerned citizen no other avenues were open to her.”
She justified this statement by the evidence given in the trial by DECC (4) and Lancashire County Council. DECC, the licencing authority, uses the off-shore oil regulations to licence on-shore fracking operations and
stated that they are not interested in policing breaches of environmental law which is the job of the local planning authority and the Environment Agency.
The local council planning officer made it clear in his evidence that he only had limited resources and few powers to police developers. The general expectation from these regulators is that companies will regulate
themselves.
It was clearly established during trial that Cuadrilla Resources had flouted the period of their planning permission by two months, and had failed to comply with their own method statement related to the protection
of birdlife from the nearby Site of Special Scientific Interest. As a result they were potentially in breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Neither DECC nor the local council appeared to be concerned about taking action to prevent this crime.
Despite these facts, Judge Ward rejected the defence’s argument that the activists were preventing a crime.
The convicted activist said:
“This verdict confirms my view that the regulatory authorities are hopelessly inadequate at their job and don’t have the protection of the environment as a priority. Companies like Cuadrilla are allowed to flout their obligations with impunity, while concerned citizens are criminalised.”
Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting gas in shale rock. Huge amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals are forced into the ground at high pressure, a large proportion of which are never recovered. In the
United States numerous spills of these fluids have contaminated irrigation water, affecting food supplies, and the health of surrounding communities. (5) (6) (7)
There are twelve licenses to frack for shale gas in the UK, five of which are held by Cuadrilla resources in Lancashire. (8)
*Notes*
1. To have committed the offence of aggravated trespass (section 68 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) it needed to be shown that the defendants had:
* Taken disruptive action beyond just trespassing on private property. The prosecution failed on this first point.
* Disrupted a lawful activity, in this case the drilling operations of Cuadrilla.
2. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/dec/01/fracking-lancashire-hesketh-bank-cuadrilla
3. Photos of the action are available at: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/71113300@N08/
4. DECC – Department of Energy and Climate Change is the licencing authority for fracking operations and all fossil fuel exploitation in the UK.
5. ‘Cracks in the Façade: EPA Traced Pollution of Underground Water Supply to Hydraulic Fracturing’ (Aug 2011 – EWG) http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/fracking/cracks_in_the_facade.pdf
6. ‘Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing’ (May 2011 – Duke) http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/cgc/pnas2011.pdf
7. ‘Shale gas: a provisional assessment of climate change and environmental impacts’ (Jan 2011 – Tyndall Centre) http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/sites/default/files/coop_shale_gas_report_final_200111.pdf
8. http://frack-off.org.uk/new-homepage/bad-guys/locations/
*For more information see:*
www.risingtide.org.uk
www.frack-off.org.uk
www.frackingontrial.org
Protesters chained to fence outside Inergy gas facility in New York
[UPDATE: 3 arrested for blockade.]
[UPDATE: 3 arrested for blockade.]
I am chained to a fence outside an Inergy facility near Watkins Glen, New York, and I am not alone.
We are protesting the gasification of New York. We don’t want fracking in this state (or any state), and we don’t like Inergy’s plans to build a gas storage hub in Seneca Lake salt caverns.
We believe that:
1. Inergy’s plans are reckless and dangerous. Salt Cavern storage facilities are more accident prone than any other type of gas storage facility.
2. Even if nothing goes wrong, there will be plenty wrong. The Inergy project will change the character of our rural area by increasing the levels of traffic, noise and pollution. Just the pollution alone will kill people, and gas development will surely harm our existing winery, agricultural and tourism industries.
3. Inergy can’t be trusted. Inergy has been caught in so many lies and is keeping so many secrets that it has no credibility whatsoever. It cannot be relied on as a guardian of public safety.
4. The Inergy project is clearly meant to facilitate the fracking of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. We adamantly oppose fracking and consider it catastrophic folly. We want the Inergy project stopped because of its own lack of merit, and also as part of the larger effort to stop fracking.
5. We resent the fact that, even though we live here, we have been given no say in what happens to our area. We know, for example, that the DEC is keeping secrets for Inergy. And we know that the DEC sent proposed fracking regulations to the gas companies for review, before finalizing them and releasing them for public comment. No such opportunity was afforded to the industry’s opponents. We cannot remain silent while a demonstrably biased agency makes decisions behind closed doors that could forever change our way of life.
Australia. Climate Change activists step up opposition to coal in Hunter Valley protests from mine to port
A banner drop at a construction site for a new coal loader terminal at the Port of Newcastle in the New South Wales Hunter Valley ended when police instructed the 60 metre crane be lowered to the ground.
A banner drop at a construction site for a new coal loader terminal at the Port of Newcastle in the New South Wales Hunter Valley ended when police instructed the 60 metre crane be lowered to the ground. The Protestors say they were not given warning of this action and alledged it imperiled their lives.
“We are dismayed with the actions of police here today.” said spokesperson Steve Phillips. “We conducted a peaceful protest, with trained and experience climbers, and safety as our priority. NSW Police responded with gross negligence and dereliction of duty, and placed two lives at risk. Our climbers were not even warned before the crane was lowered.”
Coal Export Terminal construction obstructed
Activists entered the NCIG coal terminal site in Newcastle before dawn to peacefully stop construction of new coal port facilities. Two experienced climbers scaled the 60 metre high construction crane to unfurl a banner reading "Stop the coal rush! For health, water & climate."
The two activists were both arrested and charged with 'enter enclosed land'. They have now been released and will appear in Newcastle local court on 9th October. Both activists have been reported as safe and well, and are happy with the protest today which stopped work on the coal port terminal site for two hours.
The protest was the fourth consecutive stop-work action against NSW coal projects this week. Activists targeted expansions of the three major elements of the coal chain – mines, railway, and port infrastructure – to highlight the massive expansion of coal mining and infrastructure taking place in NSW, and its impacts on public health and the environment.
“NSW is in the grip of a coal rush. Public health, waterways, ecosystems, and the global climate are under assault,” said Steve Phillips. “Local communities are resisting the coal rush at every step of the way, challenging new mines and port developments that place the profits of coal companies ahead of the public good.”
According to Rising Tide Newcastle who organised today's protest there are 34 coal mine proposals currently before the NSW Planning Department, most of which would produce coal for export through Newcastle. Newcastle is the largest coal export port in the world, and the port terminal expansion will add 66 million tonnes per year export capacity if allowed to go ahead. In 2004, port throughput was around 78 million tonnes, or 10 per cent of the world’s total trade in coal
“But both State and Federal Governments have taken the side of the coal companies. NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard and Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke continue to approve every coal project that arrives on their desks. Communities are crying out for help, but governments are ignoring them.”
"Enough is enough. We need to stop the coal rush. It's time for State and Federal governments to stop kowtowing to the mining companies, and get behind community demands for a clean, renewable future."
A spokesperson for Rising Tide Newcastle said the actions of police today which imperiled the lives of two activists will be reported to the NSW Ombudsman.
Coal Crusher occupied at Boggabri coal mine
On Monday two activists did a banner drop in central New South Wales, where activists scaled a coal-crushing plant at Boggabri Coal Mine on the Gunnedah basin.
According to a media release by the protestors the NSW Government has recently approved a fourfold expansion of the Boggabri Coal Mine. The two protestors dropped a banner saying: "Stop the Coal Rush: Protect Health, Water, Climate". After more than 8 hours atop the coal-crusher two protestors were arrested and taken to Narrabri Police Station. The men were protesting against the destruction of Leard State Forest, in the Gunnedah Basin, for three open-cut coal mines. A major expansion of the Boggabri coal mine was approved by the NSW Government in July despite community and environmental organisations alledging huge ecological impacts and overwhelming community opposition.
At the same time on Monday activists from Quit Coal dropped a huge banner over the the Victorian State Parliament entrance saying 'Coal is the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet' Prof. James Hansen, NASA. Why is Baillieu funding coal?"
Tripod stops construction on coal railtrack expansion
Between today's protest and the protest at Boggabri coal mine Rising Tide Newcastle also protested on Tuesday the upgrading of rail infrastructure and building a third track in the Hunter Valley to increase the load capacity for exporting more coal.
The Maitland to Minimbah Third Track project is being constructed by Hunter 8 Alliance, which is a consortium of engineering company GHD, construction company John Holland, and the Federally owned Australian Rail Track Corporation. The project aims to lift coal haulage capacity on the Hunter rail corridor to 200 million tonnes per annum. It includes construction of 23km of new rail track, and reconditioning of 9km of existing track. The Federal Government granted $114 million, through the ARTC, to the project.
Activists accessed a Hunter 8 Alliance site at Rutherford and erected a wooden tripod to block access to the site. Activist Ned Haughton scaled the 10 metre high structure, where he remained for the next five and a half hours. Haughton was arrested and charged with obstruction.
Steve Phillips, spokesperson for protest organisers Rising Tide, said: “This railway construction project is designed purely for the benefit of coal corporations, yet it is being paid for with taxpayers money. Why are taxpayers dollars being handed over to rich mining corporations, in order to prop up a polluting industry that is destroying human health and the environment?”
“There is a coal rush under way in NSW, and public health, waterways, ecosystems, and the global climate are under assault. Massive coal mine projects, coal haulage projects, and coal port projects are in the pipeline. If all these projects go ahead, the consequences will be devastating.” concluded Steve Phillips. “We call on State and Federal Governments to abandon their infatuation with mining companies, and their addiction to fossil fuels. It's time to take a stand and stop this coal rush before it's too late.”
Sources:
- Media releases, details, and photos from Rising Tide Australia
Fracking on trial: lawfulness of Cuadrilla’s fracking operation remains in doubt
Yesterday, three people from Bristol Rising Tide were on trial for a second day at Preston Magistrates Court following their action (1) which shut down Cuadrilla Resources' hydraulic fracturing (2) site beside the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire in December 2011.
Yesterday, three people from Bristol Rising Tide were on trial for a second day at Preston Magistrates Court following their action (1) which shut down Cuadrilla Resources' hydraulic fracturing (2) site beside the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire in December 2011.
Two of the defendants went free when it became clear that the charges against them had been poorly framed. They had been charged with aggravated trespass.
A defendant from Bristol Rising Tide commented:
“It’s great to go free but the threat that fracking poses to communities and the environment has not gone away. It is very likely that Cuadrilla will be fracking at sites in Lancashire in the near future. Do we trust a company that is prepared to flout its planning permission to handle a very dangerous technology like fracking?”
To have committed the offence of aggravated trespass it needed to be shown that the defendants had:
· Taken disruptive action beyond just trespassing on private property. The prosecution failed on this first point.
· Disrupted a lawful activity, in this case the drilling operations of Cuadrilla.
On Tuesday in court, the Head of Planning from Lancashire County Council, Alyn Perigo, confirmed that Cuadrilla were operating outside the period of their planning permission. Cuadrilla had in fact continued to drill two months beyond their agreed time limit. Mr Perigo also confirmed that by drilling in winter they had failed to meet a key condition to safeguard bird life from the adjacent Ribble Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest. The defence argued that this may have resulted in a breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Yesterday the prosecution had hoped to call Pat Waring, (3) an Ecologist employed by Cuadrilla Resources, to attempt to demonstrate that Cuadrilla had not been operating unlawfully at the time of the protest. In the event Mr Waring was not prepared to appear for the prosecution. This left the prosecution with the challenge of trying to demonstrate ‘lawfulness’ without an expert witness. In the event this was left undetermined as the prosecution had already failed on the first point.
The case against a third defendant will conclude this morning. She faces a different charge under section 69 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which is failing to leave land as soon as practicable when directed to do so by the senior officer at the scene.
Notes
1. On December 1st 2011, activists from Bristol Rising Tide occupied a drilling rig operated by Cuadrilla Resources at Hesketh Bank beside the Ribble Estuary. The action stopped drilling for 13 hours before the occupiers came down of their own accord. Photos of the action are available at https://secure.flickr.com/photos/71113300@N08/
2. Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting gas in shale rock. Huge amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals are forced into the ground at high pressure, a large proportion of which are never recovered. In the United States numerous spills of these fluids have contaminated irrigation water, affecting food supplies, and the health of surrounding communities. There are twelve licenses to frack for shale gas in the UK, five of which are held by Cuadrilla resources in Lancashire.
3. Early in 2011, Pat Waring of Ecology Services UK Ltd, was employed by Cuadrilla to produce the document: Method Statement – Birds, setting out how Cuadrilla could minimise disturbance to the overwintering and nesting birds that frequent Hesketh Bank beside the Ribble Estuary SSSI. The production of this document, and compliance with its contents, is a requirement of Condition 22 of Cuadrilla’s Planning Permission for the exploratory drilling operation.
For more information see:
www.risingtide.org.uk
www.frack-off.org.uk
www.frackingontrial.org