Wilderness Defence – Page 102

Community halts illegal work on Special Area of Conservation, Ireland- pls help!

24th July 2008
The fight goes on- be part of it.

24th July 2008
The fight goes on- be part of it.
This is an urgent call for support to protect the community and environment of Rossport in Mayo, Ireland. Shell is now attempting to construct the first 200m metres of the onshore section of the pipeline without any planning permission. 13 residents were arrested on Tuesday and this morning a 10ft fence was erected and guarded by40 police & 70 security.
Help is urgently needed. Come if u can. Protest at Irish Embassy, Shell garages etc.

At 8am this morning, over 40 police, who are now stationed in the Shell compound, and 70 Shell specialist security forced the local community away from Glengad beach. The crowd who had assembled to monitor the illegal work being done on the cliff-face at Glengad were peacefully protesting on the beach. However the local community were then forced off the beach to allow 10ft high fencing to be placed down to the water edge. This has blocked of the right of way on Glengad beach. All attempted questions regarding the legality and the consents for the work were ignored by both Gardaí and Shell staff alike.

The legality of the consents given is still an issue of major concern to the people of the locality as it is still unclear what permissions Shell have received and for what exact work. While Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan has claimed that it was just an “oversight” that the latest authorisations for the project wasn’t published, this clouding of what consents have been granted has been a characteristic of the whole Corrib Project.

Local resident Terence Conway said “The fact is that this first onshore section is the most dangerous part of the whole project as the pressure could be as high as 345bar and still it will not have gone through any planning if it is constructed”.

Shell is now attempting to construct the first 200m metres of the onshore section of the pipeline without it going through planning permission at all. Although the remaining 9.2km of the onshore pipeline is currently being examined by An Bord Pleanala, Shell are attempting to lay the first 200m metres before a decision is made.

On Tuesday 22nd July, 13 residents were arrested at Glengad, while challenging Shell on the permissions they had to do excavation and other works around the site of the proposed landfall area of the pipeline. The arrested people included Goldman Prize winner Willie Corduff as well as Shell to Sea trailer hostess Mary Horan. The 13 were arrested around 2pm and held at Belmullet police station for 3 hours before being released without charge, with files being sent to the DPP. One of the people arrested had to be brought by ambulance to Castlebar Hospital after seeing a doctor in Belmullet station. The mood of the arrestees after release was definitely one of resolute defiance. After the 13 were arrested, Shell attempted to re-commence the excavation work however another group of around 20 locals arrived and halted the work for the remainder of the day.

On Wednesday 23rd July, a Shell digger began clearing the topsoil from the area around the cliff-face to begin the procedure of creating a causeway down to the beach. Roughly an hour later they were requested by local residents to produce the permissions but were only met with silence from the line of security which at first tried to let the digger continue but eventually the digger retired to behind security gates.

While Shell have received a Foreshore Licence in 2002 by the then Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources for the offshore part of the pipeline, this Licence is only valid up to high-water mark. However Shell are seeking to do work that would involving creating a pipe pull-in facility that would lay the pipeline up to the proposed pressure reduction facility which will be over 30m back from the cliff-face. Planning permission for all of the onshore pipeline section is currently before An Bord Pleanala since May 2008 under the new Strategic Infrastructure Act and it is believed that an Oral hearing will be heard before An Bord Pleanala provides the necessary rubber-stamp.

However in the meantime it is believed that all the work currently being done in Glengad doesn’t have the necessary permission. Shell have now installed about 5 large port-cabins which include office and cafeteria facilities on the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) only about 300m away from where the Rossport Solidarity Camp stood, until they were removed less than a year ago.

After about an hour standoff, the gardaí led by Superintendent John Gilligan arrived at the scene, parking all their squads, jeeps and paddy wagons inside on the Shell compound on the SAC. After speaking with Shell personnel, Supt Gilligan approached the group and was told about the concerns over the permissions for the work. Supt Gilligan was told that members of the assembled protestors had met with Conor Ó Raghallaigh, Director of the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) on the previous day and that it had been agreed that the necessary permission were to be sought from the Dept of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources and the Dept of Agricultuture & Fisheries. However, the Departments hadn’t replied to any of the queries sent so far, and so it was requested by the protestors that the work be halted until the situation was clarified. After again speaking with Shell personnel, Supt. Gilligan said that Shell were willing to stop for 2 hours so queries could be made into the permissions granted, however he was told that it was believed that this would not be long enough. Supt. Gilligan was also reminded how last October he had attempted to push through drilling work in the area for Shell that was challenged by locals and which was subsequently found to be illegal. Supt. Gilligan then once more spoke with Shell personnel inside the compound and after warning all the people assembled, people began to be arrested.

I would like to say that I have been trying to establish the legality of these works for almost 2 weeks now, and have sent off countless emails and made a lot of phone calls and am still no clearer than when I began (and many other people have hit blank walls too). I have been dealing primarily with NPWS which is the section of the Dept of Environment whose duty it is to oversee work on SACs and other sensitive areas. I was first of all told on the phone that the work was under the Foreshore Licence and I would receive a detailed email which would clarify my concerns. However no clarification has been forthcoming and now NPWS have decided to wash they hand of it and have started referring any queries to the other 2 departments involved. The whole episode once again shows way that this project has been split up from start to finish and how no person or department will take any responsibility once questioned.

It should be noted that NPWS in their report seeking the removal of the Rossport Solidarity Camp, stated that site where the camp was would take “10 to 15 years for the site to fully recover” and recommended that the camp be removed and “the habitats allowed to recover naturally”. Now NPWS turn a blind eye when a whole compound (which is probably illegal) has been set up.

One of the most infuriating sights of the day was the 2 NPWS rangers who hung out with the Shell paid ornithologist on the beach for the day watching over the sand martin colony while only 10 metres away a digger had begun destroying the cliff-face. Luckily however the people of the locality have long given up hope that any of these authorities will protect either them or their environment and took action.

If you wish to join the fight and visit the area, there is space to stay in the Rossport Solidarity House ( http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com).

The fight will go on regardless but any help is invaluable.
http://www.shelltosea.com

Traps & Enclosures Sabotaged – Ilkley Moor Shoot

Grouse Liberation Front Communique:

“Up in the White Crag plantation off Ilkley moor. A large grouse pen was identified and trashed, the water pipes and distributors were left split and smashed. The wire fencing from the entire enclosure was brought down. The electric fencing was cut and the system destroyed. Two set fen traps were discovered and placed permanently out of commission.

Grouse Liberation Front Communique:

Two smaller pens were found nearby and the netting roof and wire surrounds were left in tatters. Feeders in the area were also tampered with.

Grouse Liberation Front”

Reported by Bite Back Magazine

Saving Iceland Blockades Century Aluminum Smelter and Elkem Steel Factory

Saving Iceland, July 21st 2008
Press Release

Saving Iceland, July 21st 2008
Press Release
GRUNDARTANGI – Today 20 activists from Saving Iceland blockaded the single supply road to Century Aluminum’s smelter on Hvalfjordur and Elkem – Icelandic Alloys steel factory. They have chained themselves to each other using arm tubes to form a human blockade as well as using tripod for the first time in Icelandic history.

The action went on for three hours and nobody was arrested. “We protest the environmental and human health hazards Century’s bauxite mining and refining activities in Jamaica, their plans for a new smelter and refinery in West Congo. Both Century’s and Elkem’s expansion plans will also mean destruction of unique geothermal areas in Iceland and produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Miriam Rose of Saving Iceland (1).

Century in West-Congo: opencast bauxite mining
In 2007 Century Aluminum Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic of the Congo (ROC) for the exclusive right to develop an aluminium smelter, alumina refinery and a bauxite mine (2). It specifies a minimum commitment of 500 megawatts of gas-generated electrical energy. Century is surveying where to mine the bauxite and will start building the smelter as soon as possible (3).

“We believe that the Republic of the Congo has all of the ingredients necessary to sustain a profitable aluminum industry,” said Century CEO Logan W. Kruger (2).
“Kruger is right,” says Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson of Saving Iceland. “Transparency International rated the ROC as one of the most corrupt regimes in the world. Exactly the kind of regimes aluminium corporations like to deal with…” (4)

“It’s very unlikely the poor will have any benefit from this development but they will pay the price of the environmental impact. Oil revenue in the country has never reached them, why would it be different for bauxite?” Úlfhildarson continues.
“Considering the bauxite reserves in West Congo, it is clear that Century is planning large scale open cast mining there, in the same way other corporations are attempting in Orissa and what has also happened in Jamaica, Guyana and Guinea,” says Indian aluminium expert and author Samarendra Das who will be talking on this topic at Reykjavik Academia on Wednesday (see note a.).

“All over the world, where bauxite is mined the environment is being destroyed and people’s livelihoods and health taken away from them. People in Iceland need to know where the bauxite that is refined and then smelted into aluminium comes from,” says Das.
Century in Jamaica: environmental and health hazards
Century-owned St Ann Bauxite, it’s predecessor Kaiser as well as the ALCOA, RioTinto-Alcan and Rusal (which owns 1/3 of Century), are also active in Jamaica, have been held responsible for rainforest being destroyed and toxic pollution of drinking water (5,6,7). Century want to open up a second mine and refinery in a joint venture with Chinese Minmetals. That company is associated with prison labour factories and gross human rights abuses in China and elsewhere (see note b.).

Elkem – Icelandic Alloys: pollution accidents every week
Elkem – Icelandic Alloys wants to expand its facility at Grundartangi on Hvalfjordur for producing ferrosilicon for the steel industry. It is already one of Iceland’s largest contributors to greenhouse gases and other pollutants; expansion of the smelter would lead to a significant increase in Iceland’s carbon emissions (1).
In July 2007 it was reported (8) that Elkem ‘accidentally’ released a huge cloud of pollution from their plant. Apparently the accident was due to human error. Thordur Magnusson, an Elkem spokesman, then said that this human error “recurs several times a week.” Sigurbjorn Hjaltason, chairman of Kjosarhreppur parish, said that Elkem usually produced the emissions at night throughout the year.

About Saving Iceland
Last Friday, Saving Iceland stopped work at the construction site of Century Aluminum’s planned new smelter in Helguvík. This is part of their fourth summer of direct action against heavy industry in Iceland. In July 2007 activists also blockaded the smelter and steel factory.
Saving Iceland was started by Icelandic environmentalists asking for help to protest the Icelandic wilderness, the largest remaining in Europe, from heavy industry. As well as Century, other aluminium corporations ALCOA and Rio Tinto-Alcan want to construct new smelters. This would require exploitation of all the geothermal areas in the country, as well as damming all major glacial rivers (see note c.).

This year, the fourth action camp to protect Icelandic nature has been set up near the Hellisheidi geothermal plant east of Reykjavik, which is currently being expanded to produce electricity for Century Aluminum.

More information
http://www.savingiceland.org

with a movie of the action
savingiceland at riseup.net

Notes

A.) On Wednesday July 23, 19.30 h. Saving Iceland and Futureland will hold a conference with the Indian writer, scientist and aluminium expert Samarendra Das and ‘Dreamland’ author Andri Snær Magnusson, on the influence of the aluminium industry in the third world. Also, the concept of aluminium as a ‘green’ product will be examined. It will take place at Reykjavik Academia, Hringbraut 121. Mr Das is available for interviews; please contact one of the Saving Iceland contacts above.

B.) In 2004 Minmetals attempted a takeover of Canadian mining company Noranda but were declined in 2005 due to serious concerns over human rights abuses by the Chinese company. This report details Minmetal’s association to forced labour:
Dhir, Aaron A. (2006). ’Of Takeovers, Foreign Investment and Human Rights: Unpacking the Noranda-Minmetals Conundrum’, Banking and Finance Law Review, 22, 77-104.
C.) For more details and an overview of projects in Iceland, see: http://www.savingiceland.org/sos
References
(1) Icelandic Ministry of the Environment (2006). Iceland’s fourth national communication on climate change, report to the UNFCCC. http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/isl… [Accessed 20-6-08]
(2) AZ Materials News (2007). Century Aluminium to Build Aluminium Smelter in Republic of Congo. http://www.azom.com/News.asp?NewsID=7734 [Accessed 20-6-08]
(3) Afrique en Ligne (2008). Congo to build aluminium smelter in Pointe-Noire. http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/africa-… [Accessed 20-6-08]
(4) Transparency International (2006). Corruption Perceptions Index 2006. Transparency International, Berlin.
(5) Zadie Neufville, April 6, 2001, ’Bauxite Mining Blamed for Deforestation’. See http://forests.org/archive/samerica/baux…. [Accessed 20-6-08]
(6) Mines and Communities report,’Bauxite Mine Fight Looms in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country’, 24th October 2006. http://www.minesandcommunities.org/artic…. [Accessed 20-6-08]
(7) Al Jazeera (2008). Environmental damage from mining in Jamaica, June 11, 2008 News. Available through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJa2ftQwf…. [Accessed 20-6-08]
(8) MBL.is (2007). Reykur frá járnblendiverksmiðjunni Grundartanga. http://mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2007/07… [Accessed 20-6-08]

Shell to Sea Update

Dear Friends,
Hope this email finds ye well. Here is a brief update on the current situation:

1. Shell activity in the area is ramping up lately and if you are thinking of visiting the area we would call on you to do it over the next few weeks as help in resisting the work that is listed below is needed. You are always more than welcome to stay at the new camp house; email us (rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com) or phone 0851141170 to say when you can come. Check out our new website too: www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com

2. Shell plan to start offshore pipeline laying shortly as the Soltaire (pipe laying ship) is currently off the coast of Donegal. Shell have also been visiting houses lately around Glengad where the pipeline is due to come ashore saying that there would be some digging and noise disturbance in the area shortly. However they have hit a hitch with the Erris Fishermen as this week they had a protest to object to where Shell are placing their waste outflow pipe. Pat O Donnell said “We’ve been fishing these waters for generations and we all have licences to fish them. So let the Minister for Justice and the Government protect our rights now the way they brought in the Gardaí to protect the workers on the gas refinery,”
He added that if Shell wanted to remove his crab pots from the route of the pipeline, they would have to get a court order. “And I won’t heed the court order so they’ll have to send me and other fishermen to jail”. Read a report of it here http://www.indymedia.ie/article/88366

2. Shell have begun working on their compound in Glengad by starting to put in security fences which are in order that work will be able to begin on some of the offshore work. (See pictures here http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=1815). Most of this work occurs on a Special Area of Conservation with some of the fencing only about 200m from where the camp was. This work is almost certainly illegal as planning permission has still not been granted for any of the onshore pipeline. But the powers that be are ignoring all attempts to highlight the situation and letting Shell operate as they wish. Two people were arrested in the last week on the site but were released without charge.

3. Shell security: There is now a new security firm operating in the area on behalf of Shell. Over the last week Shell have got some seriously bad press over the surveillance and intimation of local residents which included the filming of families and children on glengad beach (see: http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=1820). Now anyone who visits the area and goes for a swim in the sea just beside where the camp used to be, the chances are you will be filmed. Today Shell were put under pressure on national radio to identify the security firm but refused to do so, making it obvious that Shell have something to hide as to who the firm is (it is rumoured locally that it is the Golan group). However even these heavies need protecting as evidenced by how the gardaí escorted them off when the full security bus was stopped by locals for failing to display any tax or insurance but this infringement was as usual ignored by the gardaí.

4. Mayo County Council building a road for Shell. The local authority is building a road through the area specifically for Shell against the wishes of the local people. It shows how invidious the Shell mentality is, as now you have council employees going around bribing and threatening local residents to give permission for the council to widen the road. So far these bribes and threats have only swayed one or 2 of the landowners and the local resident are fighting the road upgrade through legal channels. (See http://www.indymedia.ie/article/88317).

There is also alot of other stuff going on, such as Shell being stopped from accessing Rossport commonage lately, loads of submissions gone into the planning applications and a European Petitions Challenge. As always we need help with everything from direct actions, to banner making, to helping out on the camp garden so please visit if you have time to spare. Also big thanks to the people in Leeds for the recent camp fundraiser.

Anyway see all the latest campaign news on http://www.shelltosea.com

Hope to see some of ye soon.

Best wishes from the Rossport Solidarity Campers x

www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com

Saving Iceland Camp 2008 has Begun and First Action

The 4th Saving Iceland action camp has now begun in a beautiful threatened geothermal valley beside Hellisheiðisvirkjun in the Hengill area, where it will target the expansion of the geothermal power station for the Grundartangi plant and other Southwestern heavy industry projects.

This year activists from Iceland, Australia, America, Denmark, Germany, Britain, Holland, France, Belgium and Italy amongst others have joined the campaign as information about the destruction of Iceland’s wilderness has spread. This year the campaign will focus specifically on the humanitarian effects of aluminium production, from the genocides associated with mining in India, South America, Jamaica and more, to the use of aluminium for arms manufacture and the defence industry.

A week of international Saving Iceland solidarity actions will take place from July 21st to 27th in different European countries. A specialised conference with respected Indian writer and aluminium expert Samarendra Das and Andri Snær will examine the idea of “green aluminium” and the effects of the Aluminium industry in the Third World, (July 23 at Reykjavikur Akademia).
On Sunday the 20th July Saving Iceland and members of Sól á Suðurlandi and the Icelandic Mountain Guides will team up to lead a public tour around areas of Þjórsá threatened by three planned dam projects. A coach will leave Reykjavík at 12:00 noon and return by 18:00, costing 500 kr for the whole tour. Of course, direct action can as well soon be expected.

savingiceland@riseup.net
http://www.savingiceland.org

—–

Saving Iceland Stops Work at Century Aluminium Construction Site

19.07.2008
HELGUVIK (ICELAND) – Early this morning 40 activists from over 10 countries occupied the construction site where Century Aluminum are preparing to build their Helguvík aluminium smelter, and chained themselves to machinery and cranes. The protest is aimed at damage to geothermal areas in southwest Iceland and Century’s environmental and human rights abuses in Jamaica and Africa.

The construction of the Century Helguvík plant depends on the expansion of geothermal energy in Hellisheiði and Reykjanes (1). Construction began in June, without a valid Environmental Impact Assessment, or a guarantee of sufficient energy (435 MW) for the smelter. (2)

’Just as with Alcoa Fjardaal, the government shows no interest in following the the legal process for these huge projects. Instead they act as if the smelter and power projects are inevitable, creating mass apathy. At the same time, Century’s human rights abuse record has largely gone unnoticed.’, says Snorri Páll Jónsson Ulfhildurson from Saving Iceland.

American corporation Century Aluminum is involved in a number of projects in Africa and the Caribbean which are contended by environmental and human rights campaigners.

In Jamaica, Century jointly owns a 4.8 million tonne bauxite mine which is causing large-scale deforestation of rainforest. (3,4,5) Century are also involved in a joint venture to open up a second mine and alumina refinery with Chinese company Minmetals, who are associated with prison labour factories and gross human rights abuses in China and elsewhere (6,7).

In February 2007 Century Aluminium signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Congo for the exclusive right to develop a smelter, an alumina refinery and a bauxite mine with a minimum commitment of 500 megawatts of gas-generated electrical energy in Pointe Noire.(8)

’Congo is renowned for its horrendous human rights conditions including terrible mass rapes, unlawful killings, torture and corruption. Transparency International has also rated it one of the most corrupt regimes in the world. That’s usually exactly the kind of regimes corporations like Century prefer to deal with…’, says Saving Iceland’s Snorri. (9,10)

’The financial scams orchestrated by aluminium companies have created economic and environmental ruin in many countries, dramatically affecting the lives of thousands of their citizens. In each case, a sustained and costly PR campaign promising a new age of prosperity preceded this construction.’ Indian scientist, Aluminium expert and writer Samarendra Dasexplains.(11) Das will be giving a number of talks in Iceland in July, including a conference with Andi Snær Magnusson on the 23rd in Reykjavikur Akademian.(12)

(1) Landvernd report, Nóvember 2007, ’Athugasemdir vegna umhverfisáhrifa orkuöflunar fyrir álver í Helguvík, sbr. frummatsskýrslur Orkuveitu Reykjavíkur fyrir Bitruvirkjun og virkjun við Hverahlíð.’

(2) In the table below, the planning agency details that the 435 MW required for the smelter will come from a number of geothermal sites in Reykjanes and Hellisheiði. With Bitravirkjun on hold and Reykjanes not yet guaranteed, the energy requirements are far from filled. Landvernd states that only 60% of required energy had been found in 2007, before Bitravirkjun was suspended. (see reference 1)
For more information on the lack of proper Environmental Impact Assessment see The Ecologist, October 2007,’ Aluminium Tyrants’. Jaap Krater, Miriam Rose and Mark Anslow.

(3) Century Aluminium website. http://www.centuryca.com/st_ann.html

(4) Zadie Neufville, April 6, 2001, ’Bauxite Mining Blamed for Deforestation’. See http://forests.org/archive/samerica/baux….

(5) Mines and Communities report,’Bauxite Mine Fight Looms in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country’, 24th October 2006 at http://www.minesandcommunities.org/artic….

(6) ’Century Aluminum in Jamaica mining deal’, Monday, May 15, 2006, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.

(7) In 2004 Minmetals attempted a takeover of Canadian mining company Noranda but were declined in 2005 due to serious concerns over human rights abuses by the Chinese company. This report details Minmetal’s association to forced labour.

Aaron A. Dhir, ’Of Takeovers, Foreign Investment and Human Rights: Unpacking the Noranda-Minmetals Conundrum’, Banking & Finance Law Review, Vol. 22, pp. 77-104, 2006.

(8) http://sec.edgar-online.com/2007/03/01/ … tion11.asp
and http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/africa … 83302.html

(9) Amnesty International Report 2007, http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/africa/….

(10) Transparency International (2006). Corruption Perceptions Index 2006. Transparency International, Berlin.

(11) Samarendra Das, ’Mining sacred mountains to fuel the war on terror’. June 2008. See https://savingiceland.puscii.nl/wordpres…

(12) On Wednesday July 23, 19.30 h. Saving Iceland will hold a conference with the Indian writer, scientist and aluminium expert Samarendra Das and ‘Dreamland’ author Andri Snær Magnusson, on the influence of the aluminium industry in the third world. Also, the concept of aluminium as a ‘green’ product will be examined. The evening is organised jointly with Futureland. It will take place at the Reykjavikurakademian house on Hringbraut 121.

More information and background: www.savingiceland.org

Eviction gets go ahead – Bodge House

19th July 2008
Activists fortify Bodge House against UK Coal open cast mine and the eviction squad

The group of direct activists occupying Lodge House opencast site since 18th June have declared that they are ready to resist eviction.

19th July 2008
Activists fortify Bodge House against UK Coal open cast mine and the eviction squad

The group of direct activists occupying Lodge House opencast site since 18th June have declared that they are ready to resist eviction.

UK Coal plans to mine 1 million tonnes of coal over 5 years from the site near Smalley, derbyshire.

The company failed in its first attempt to evict the activists but succeeded in obtaining an possession order at the crown court in Derby today.

The activists are fortifying Prospect Farm and have built a number of treehouses and an underground tunnel system.

Sophie from Nottingham said ‘ The decision to mine this site was taken by central government against the wishes and best interests of local people and in spite of the council refusing planning permission. Occupying the land is our last defence now that democracy has failed. We are calling for people to join us in opposing UK Coal’s greed and contempt for local opinion.’

‘Opencast mining is particularly polluting and devastates large areas of countryside. Mining more coal is not a solution to our energy problems as it is a major cause of climate change. We need to reduce energy use and adapt to more sustainable ways of living.

We need help in making finale preparations so get your asses here for the fun…

for more information contact 07503 335870

or go to www.leaveitintheground.wordpress.com
http://www.leaveitintheground.org.uk

I-69 Protesters Shut Down Asphalt Yard Again, Arrestees Face Severe Repression

Fifteen I-69 opponents were arrested Monday morning (15/7/2008) blocking the entrance to Gohmann Asphalt, and need your support and solidarity. Many of them are being held on trumped up felony charges, and some of the female-bodied arrestees have been put in exceedingly unsafe situations. As of this time they are still changing the charges on the fly, and we have been unable to bail out people with serious medical conditions. We are doing our best to make sure everyone is safe and get everyone out, but we need money. Any little bit helps! Donations can be made through our Paypal account on stopi69.wordpress.com

or to the I69 Legal Office, 323 S Walnut, Bloomington, Indiana, 47401

People who have been calling the jail constantly and demanding humane treatment of the arrestees have done a great service, but at this point stopping those calls would make the job of the legal support team significantly easier as we try to keep lines of communication open between us, the arrestees, and the jail/D.A.’s office. THANKS!

****

This morning, over 20 citizens opposed to the construction of Interstate 69 shut down work at the Haubstadt Asphalt Yard belonging to Gohmann Asphalt & Construction, Inc. Five of the opponents locked themselves together in a circle at the yard’s gate, accompanied by five others dedicated to keeping them as comfortable as possible in the face of summer heat and the threat of police violence. With construction slated to begin this week, opponents are demanding that Gohmann immediately drop their contract for work on I-69. Additionally they demand that Gohmann and their accomplices, Riverton Trucking, Inc., drop a spurious civil suit brought against the only I-69 opponent arrested at a previous lock-down at Gohmann Asphalt’s Haubstadt facility.

Gohmann A&C is the primary contractor with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the construction of the first 1.77 miles of Section 1 of the proposed highway from Evansville to Indianapolis. Several weeks prior, five opponents chained themselves to a truck leaving Haubstadt Asphalt Yard belonging to Gohmann Asphalt & Construction, Inc.. The five—accompanied by twenty-five supporters—demanded that Gohmann drop their contract with INDOT or face continued opposition and work stoppages. Until Gohmann drops its contract, opponents will continue to hold them accountable for the evictions of farmers, the disruption of communities, and the devastation of the environment caused by I-69.

I-69 has been hotly contested for almost two decades, with voices raised against its part in the destruction of the environment, the economic prosperity of Southern Indiana communities, and the violation of Hoosiers’ property rights. Although over 70% of Indiana residents are opposed to the road, the governor and corporate interests are ramming I-69 down the throats of Southern Indiana residents in a complete subversion of the democratic process.

Over 400 families will be displaced in Southern Indiana; thousands of acres of farmland, wetlands, and wildlife refuge will be paved over; and the already-polluted tri-state area will face thousands of pounds of increased daily emissions from the increased truck traffic through the region. The interstate is ultimately intended to stretch from Canada to Mexico, linking up with an extensive network of roads being constructed there. The highway is a physical manifestation of NAFTA and other free trade agreements throughout the Americas—the same free trade agreements that have cost 31,000 jobs in Indiana alone since their beginnings in 1994.

“This road is being billed as an economic stimulus for Southern Indiana, but in fact it will only bring minimum wage jobs at truck stops and fast food joints. Meanwhile, all the other jobs are shipped to sweatshops further and further south of the border. The people of Indiana deserve better,” said Judith Mayland, a protestor at the site.

Various citizens’ groups have opposed I-69 for two decades, but with construction starting this week, opponents are stepping up the resistance in order to ensure that the will of the people is enacted.

“We’ve written letters, attended public meetings, and voted, and despite massive opposition they’re still trying to build this road,” one of the locked-down opponents said. “They haven’t listened and they haven’t listened. Now it’s time to lay our bodies on the line so that they finally get it that when we say ‘No road!’ we mean ‘No f***king road!’”

for more info visit stopi69.wordpress.com

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Legal Update on Gohmann Actions and Ensuing Repression

Southern Tasmania update

Southern Tasmania Spring D.A. Update

Little Denison – April
Over 80 people attended community protests over three days (April 27th-29th) in one of the last patches of high-density old growth forest in the Little Denison Valley, Southern Tasmania.

Southern Tasmania Spring D.A. Update

The 1000 hectare area, which will be partially cable-logged, is a nesting site for the critically endangered Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagle and the endemic Denison Burrowing Crayfish.

Sunday 27th, saw 60 community members attend an Open Day facilitated by the Huon Valley Environment Centre (HVEC), where people witnessed the bleak expanse where 300 year old trees are being dynamited and cut down for the world’s largest hardwood woodchipper, Gunns Limited. That night, 20 activists remained in the forest.

The first morning rays shone upon an occupied platform, suspended 60 metres up a Eucalyptus, and the glint of a lock-on and logging machine contriving a scheme of stagnation. Four forest activists were arrested; threats of physical violence and pepper spray were made by the Police – a worrying escalation in a recent trend. Blockading continued into the third day, eventually resulting in the tree-sitter’s arrest.

Weld Valley – June
In 2006 Forestry Tasmania (FT) claimed that they were “developing a touring route that will make the Weld Valley accessible to all visitors”. Two years on and the road to the Weld is still closed to all traffic but log trucks, and FT’s advertised bus tours still haven’t started.

In fact, their actions are in total opposition to their stated tourist intentions.

In early June, roading began into pristine native forest, with full scale logging operations to follow. This tract of forest is directly adjacent to the wild and well-loved Weld River & Fletcher’s Eddy.

In immediate response 25 people conducted a walk-in along the new road, the first forest protest under the reign of the new Premier, David Bartlett. While an activist locked-on to a gravel truck, Premier Bartlett declared his continued support for native forest destruction.

Giant Garrett – National – June 5th
A National Day of Action highlighting the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) failure to protect Tasmania’s ancient forests. Hobart, Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle, Brisbane and Darwin all targeted Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s support for the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (TRFA) and Gunns Ltd.’s proposed pulp mill, with giant effigies of Garrett as a ‘climate criminal’.

ALP Environment Offices – Sydney – July 4th
Activists scaled the exterior of Environment Minister, Peter Garrett’s 6 storey office building to hang a banner reading ‘The Australian Government is Destroying Tasmania’s Old Growth Forests’ and a 5 metre high ‘Giant Garrett’ puppet.
“Peter Garrett and the ALP pay lip service to climate change and environmental protection while actively sanctioning the destruction of ancient, carbon dense forests. As we speak, the World Heritage Committee meeting in Canada is considering the
impacts of logging on wilderness forests in Southern Tasmania, with Minister Garrett’s office actively siding with the forestry industry in this matter,” a SWST spokesperson said.

5 Tasmanian forest activists were arrested, after a heavy handed police response to the peaceful occupation.

For further info & updates visit
www.huon.org
www.myspace.com/stillwildstillthreatened
www.huon.org/swstautumn.pdf
www.coolforests.org

Slaughterhouse burned to the ground, Sweden

The Swedish ALF, Djurens Befrielsefront, has claimed responsibility for a fire at a slaughterhouse in Lövudden on Friday night, July 4th. By the time the fire brigade arrived on the scene, nothing could be salvaged. The slaughterhouse was due to open on September 1 and slaughter moose, elk and other wildlife. The owner reported that insurance will not cover the entire loss and rebuilding may not be possible.

Southeast Climate Convergence march visits Richmond climate criminals. Two lockdown at Bank of America

August 11th, 2008

Despite a massive police presence throughout the city and our major action plan derailed by law enforcement harassment, 50 activists snaked their way through Richmond today in an un-permitted march, paying visits to several climate criminals. Carrying banners reading, “No Nukes, No Coal, No Kidding” and “Social Change not Climate Change,” people marched to the headquarters of Massey Energy, Dominion, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Bank of America.

At Massey Energy, a notorious coal company involved in mountaintop removal coal mining, activists surrounded the entrance and yelled, “Hands off our mountains!.” The group then moved on to the Department of Environmental Quality which recently rubber stamped Dominion’s dirty coal plant in Wise County, VA. Next the group brought the party to Dominion, who is building the aforementioned coal plant as well as proposing a new nuke plant in Louisa County, VA. Chanting “No coal, no nukes, we won’t stop until you do!” the activists attempted to take over Dominion’s plaza but were repelled by police on horses. In a show of interspecies solidarity one horse bucked a cop off its back.

To wrap things up for the day, the crowd moved on to the the towering Bank of America building, one of the largest funders of the coal industry. In impressive feat of stealth two activists manage to infiltrate the beefed up security at the building and locked to a sign outside of the customer entrance. Marchers supported the lockdown with a die in on the sidewalk. Police eventually cut free the two that were locked down and charged them with trespassing.

All in all it was a great day. While the police may have foiled our original plans they couldn’t stop us altogether. Pretty much every building in Richmond connected to a climate criminal had cops staked out at it and several activists cars were followed anywhere they went. Despite this we had a successful march and lockdown. Lets continue the struggle for climate justice in the southeast!