The Lancaster Stand

From the Fox43 website (click here for video):

LANCASTER, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is seeking public comment on the proposed Atlantic Sunrise pipeline that is slated to be built in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

On Monday, DEP got input from supporters who want to see positive economic impacts from the project, and opponents who say those benefits are not enough and do not want their properties touched in any way.

The Department of Environmental Protection held a hearing in Lancaster last night to field comments about the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. The meeting specifically addressed two permits that are required from the DEP for construction. Attendees who registered to speak were given three minutes of time, which several LAP (Lancaster Against Pipelines) members used to address the personal, cultural and environmental damages the permits would allow. Below are the statements, in full, from three LAP members, Mark Clatterbuck, Malinda Clatterbuck and Tim Spiese.

From Lancaster Online, by Michelle Johnson: "Senator hosts event as proactive approach to Conestoga Township pipeline protest":

"Senator Scott Martin will host a presentation May 4 for local officials and law enforcement personnel to discuss preparations for potential protests regarding the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Conestoga Township."

From The Mennonite World Review by Austin Sachs:

"My hope is that we will not stay silent any more when environmental and social injustices are happening around us. I ask you as Mennonites and those who believe in undoing racism and stewardship to stand up for native and environmental rights."

Monday - 4/10

Communities Rising Tour - Lancaster, PA 
Defying the Corporate State

Unitarian Universalist Church 
538 W. Chestnut Street Lancaster
7-9PM

Featuring voices from the front lines fighting against corporate exploitation. Featured speakers include Ken Ward, Jay O’Hara, and Lancaster’s own Malinda Clatterbuck. For full event info click here.

Pro-Pipeline Forces Ramp Up Intimidation Tactics Against Grassroots Resistance

Last week, while addressing a fracking and pipeline-expansion conference in State College, PA Public Utility Commissioner Robert Powelson described grassroots pipeline resistance as a “jihad.” With this choice of words, industry insiders are attempting to paint local residents as domestic terrorists for protecting their own homes, families, and properties against dangerous, unwanted, pipelines—including  the Atlantic Sunrise Project (ASP) that would send US gas to overseas markets.

The disturbing rhetoric appears to be working. Three days after Powelson’s remarks, PA federal judge Matthew Brann announced that peaceful residents engaging in civil disobedience against the ASP “shall be hauled into court by the United States Marshals’ Service and a contempt hearing conducted.” 

While such tactics are clearly intended to break the spirit of grassroots pipeline-resistance efforts across Pennsylvania, the resolve of Lancaster Against Pipelines is only further galvanized by these threats. Despite federal complicity in the industry’s seizure of our land and exploitation of our natural resources, LAP is more committed than ever to peaceful, courageous resistance to Williams’ assault on our land, water, safety, and rural way of life.

Friends,

As best we can tell, serious, concerted construction of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline has been delayed by up to several months. There are still state permits that have yet to be issued for the project to go forward, and FERC has still not issued their official notice to proceed. Williams Partners employees testified in court this week that pipe would not begin being laid until July at the earliest.

Lancaster Online reports that PPL has joined with North Carolina Utilities Commission and the New York State Public Service Commission to challenge the Federal Energy Regulation Commission's approval of the Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline.

Repost of an article by Ad Crable for Lancaster Online

Reposted from an article by Brandon Jordan for Shadowproof

Months after thousands at Standing Rock stood up against the Dakota Access Pipeline, activists in Pennsylvania are ready to take a stand against a nearly $3 billion pipeline project called Atlantic Sunrise.

First proposed in 2014, it is an extension of the current Transco pipeline that transports natural gas throughout the eastern United States. Williams Partners proposed this nearly 200-mile long project to transfer natural gas from the Marcellus shale fields, one of the richest U.S. gas fields.