We Are Seneca Lake

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—May 7, 2015

Media Contact: Sandra Steingraber | 607.351.0719

photos: http://www.wearesenecalake.com/mothers-photos-2015/

                Sixteen Mothers and Grandmothers Arrested This Morning

in Blockade at Crestwood Midstream

Mother’s Day-themed Protest Calls for Halt to Gas Infrastructure Build-Out to Protect the Future of Children

 Watkins Glen, NY – In an act of civil disobedience, sixteen women from six Finger Lakes-area counties—including one who is pregnant—created a human blockade this morning at both of the gated entrances of Crestwood Midstream. Holding banners that said, “Happy Mother’s Day! Honoring Mother Earth” and “Mothers Against Crestwood: Because I Said So, That’s Why,” protesters prevented all traffic from entering or leaving the gates before their arrests shortly after 11 a.m. by Schuyler County Sheriff’s deputies and NY state troopers.

None of the protesters arrested this morning had been previously arrested as part of the We Are Seneca Lake movement, which opposes Crestwood’s plans for methane storage expansion in lakeside salt caverns and which has been ongoing since October 2014.

Today’s arrests mark the first since April 22 and bring the total number of arrests to 251 in the seven-month-old civil disobedience campaign.

Thirty other Finger Lakes residents rallied along Route 14, holding signs and banners with Mother’s Day messages and decrying fossil fuel build-out as a direct threat to their children.

Crestwood’s methane gas storage expansion project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last October in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of Seneca Lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people.

Arrested protesters were transported to the Schuyler County Sheriff’s department, charged with trespassing, and released.

Protester Abigail McHugh-Grifa, 35, of Rochester in Monroe County, said, “I have a 16-month old son and I’m pregnant. If I’m going to create life, it’s my responsibility to protect it too. I’m very concerned about the climate and for my children’s future. The more money we invest in fossil fuel infrastructure, the deeper we dig ourselves in.  I want to do what I can to speed the transition to renewables. So, I’m here doing what I can.”

“Jane Atkin, 68, of Ithaca said, “I have a grandson who is 14. I have two kids, one who lives in Colorado and one who lives in Ithaca. I figure if one lake goes, all the lakes go. And I can’t let that happen. So I’m stepping out and doing what I really believe today.”

Those arrested today were:

Jane Atkin, 67, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Tobi Feldman, 48, Ithaca, Tompkins

Gwen Hughes,

79, Rochester, Monroe County

Susan Hughes-Smith, 43, Rochester, Monroe County

Barbara Kazyaka, 52, Spencer, Tioga County

Anna Kelles, 41, Ithaca,Tompkins County

Neely Kelley, 37, Monroe County

Susan Kelley, 49, Hector, Schuyler County

Rachel Kennedy, 39, Tompkins County

Mary Krywe (Meg), 57, Arkport, Allegany County

Kate Lamarre,

39, Trumansburg, Tompkins County

Abigail McHugh-Grifa, 35, Rochester, Monroe County

Mary Moore, 71, Monroe County

Jan Quarles, 62, Ovid, Seneca County

Valorie Rockney, 70, Ithaca, Tompkins

Jennifer Wapinski-Mooradian, 42, Trumansburg, Tompkins County

Read more about the arrested protesters at: http://www.wearesenecalake.com/seneca-lake-defendes/.

Read more about widespread objections to Crestwood’s gas storage plans:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/nyregion/new-york-winemakers-fight-gas-storage-plan-near-seneca-lake.html?_r=0.

Background on the protests:

Protesters have been blocking the Crestwood gas storage facility gates since Thursday, October 23rd, including a rally with more than 200 people on Friday, October 24th. On Wednesday, October 29, Crestwood called the police and the first 10 protesters were arrested.  More information and pictures of the actions are available at www.WeAreSenecaLake.com.

The unified We Are Seneca Lake protests started on October 23rd because Friday, October 24th marked the day that major new construction on the gas storage facility was authorized to begin. The ongoing acts of civil disobedience come after the community pursued every possible avenue to stop the project and after being thwarted by an unacceptable process and denial of science. The protests are taking place at the gates of the Crestwood compressor station site on the shore of Seneca Lake, the largest of New York’s Finger Lakes.

The methane gas storage expansion project is advancing in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of the lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. Crestwood has indicated that it intends to make Seneca Lake the gas storage and transportation hub for the northeast, as part of the gas industry’s planned expansion of infrastructure across the region.

*Note that the WE ARE SENECA LAKE protest is to stop the expansion of methane gas storage, a separate project from Crestwood’s proposed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage project, which is on hold pending a Department of Environmental Conservation Issues Conference on February 12th.

As they have for a long time, the protesters are continuing to call on President Obama, U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Governor Cuomo, and Congressman Reed to intervene on behalf of the community and halt the dangerous project. In spite of overwhelming opposition, grave geological and public health concerns, Crestwood has federal approval to move forward with plans to store highly pressurized, explosive gas in abandoned salt caverns on the west side of Seneca Lake. While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has temporarily halted plans to stockpile propane and butane (LPG) in nearby caverns—out of ongoing concerns for safety, health, and the environment—Crestwood is actively constructing infrastructure for the storage of two billion cubic feet of methane (natural gas), with the blessing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

More background, including about the broad extent of the opposition from hundreds of wineries and more than a dozen local municipalities, is available on the We Are Seneca Lake website at http://www.wearesenecalake.com/press-kit/.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2015

media contact: Sujata S. Gibson, Esq. | 607. 327. 3284

Sujata S. Gibson, Esq.

Statement from We Are Seneca Lake Attorney Sujata S. Gibson, Esq. in Response to District Attorney Fazzary

We understand the District Attorney intends to revoke his offer of support for the remaining mass dismissals of the protest charges. We are surprised and disappointed by this decision and will be addressing it in court, as there is a question about whether such a prosecutorial reversal of a voluntary offer made on the record is appropriate under law.

None of the remaining defendants who were offered the District Attorney’s support in their motions to dismiss has violated any tenant of their agreement with the prosecution. Under the plain language of the offer, all of the 84 remaining defendants who were supposed to have their cases dismissed last week complied with their end of the bargain.

The agreed upon language that formed of the basis of the motion to dismiss in the interest of justice was explicit and encompasses the entirety of the agreement. [Complete text below.] The only “promise” anyone made in that motion was that, as each person made this motion, each movant had no present intention of breaking the law as they continued to protest, though they each reserved the right to act as their conscience dictated going forward.

Contrary to certain allusions that we’ve seen in the press attributed to Mr. Fazzary, there were no other promises or assurances made by any member of the legal team. We attorneys made it clear on the record and off that the defendants were not promising even for themselves that there would be no more arrests, leave aside making an impossible claim that non-movants would never be arrested protesting. The District Attorney acknowledged in court that he understood this and indicated that each person should be aware that the offer of support for each defendant would be extended only once each– if anyone made the motion and got rearrested, they would have to go to trial the next time. He explicitly reserved a decision on whether people who were arrested for the first time after the offer was made would also be supported in a motion to dismiss and warned that new arrestees after March 18^th may not get an offer of support for dismissal. However, he was quite clear that all those with charges pending as of March 18^th would be supported in their motions to dismiss on all the charges pending. This is the extent of any “deal” that was made. The prosecution asked the remaining defendants to submit notarized statements saying the same, and they did. None of the movants have been rearrested.  We were scheduled to hold the last of the dismissals on April 30^th, 2015, when the District Attorney announced that he was revoking support and seeking an adjournment.

The arrest of nineteen non-movants on Earth Day should have no bearing on the offer extended to the eighty four defendants with pending offers to support dismissals. Four Judges have now granted the dismissals in the interests of justice, including Judge Berry, who will be hearing the motions for the remaining 84 or so who were originally offered support. There is nothing that separates these 84 from the 60 that got the dismissals, other than that their court dates were scheduled later, and we hope the Judge will be consistent in his ruling for them, with or without the prosecution’s support.

Background

News stories: 

“DA: Seneca Protest Leaders Didn’t Follow Pact’s Terms,” May 1

“Charges Won’t be Dropped for 84 Crestwood Protesters,” April 30

“19 New Protesters, Including 7 from Tompkins, Arrested at Crestwood’s Gates,” April 22

“New York Winemakers Fight Gas Storage Plan Near Seneca Lake,” New York Times,  Dec. 25

Full text of the Motion to Dismiss in the Interests of Justice:

We only have this planet. We must safeguard it for those who follow. Would that it not be necessary, but sometimes citizens of good conscience must engage in non-violent acts of civil disobedience to protect that sacred trust. As long as Crestwood Midstream Partners, or any other corporate or public or private entity, continues to threaten our way of life by the proven dangerous storage of highly compressed gas in the crumbling caverns at the Salt Point facility, I reserve the right to act as my conscience dictates in order to protect Seneca Lake, its citizens, and the surrounding environment. I reserve all rights to protest further at the Crestwood facility, although it is not my intent at this time to break the law in doing so.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2015

contact: Sandra Steingraber | 607. 351. 0719

Statement by We Are Seneca Lake about District Attorney Rescinding Crestwood Arrest Dismissals

Yesterday (April 29), Schuyler County District Attorney Joseph Fazzary rescinded his support for the dismissal of 84 Seneca Lake protesters that was to take place today. Previously, the District Attorney has, along with the local judges, dropped the charges for 60 protesters “in the interests of justice.” A month ago, District Attorney Fazzary had made an agreement to dismiss the remaining 84 Seneca Lake protesters in the same fashion.

We understand that the District Attorney says that he has withdrawn the promised offer because 19 new community members blocked the gates of Crestwood in a peaceful act of civil disobedience on Earth Day (April 22). Those people, between the ages of 49 and 76, had not been arrested prior and were not party to any of the dismissals in the offer.

We Are Seneca Lake is surprised by the sudden change in plan, but, more than that, concerned about the allegation that any of us have gone back on our word. There has never been any promise that there would be no more protests or even more arrests. We and our legal advisors have been very clear, in Court and out, that the extent of our promise was what we committed to in the statement we negotiated. That statement, in full, which the District Attorney expressly agreed to, is as follows:

We only have this planet. We must safeguard it for those who follow. Would that it not be necessary, but sometimes citizens of good conscience must engage in non-violent acts of civil disobedience to protect that sacred trust. As long as Crestwood Midstream Partners, or any other corporate or public or private entity, continues to threaten our way of life by the proven dangerous storage of highly compressed gas in the crumbling caverns at the Salt Point facility, I reserve the right to act as my conscience dictates in order to protect Seneca Lake, its citizens, and the surrounding environment. I reserve all rights to protest further at the Crestwood facility, although it is not my intent at this time to break the law in doing so.

No one has violated the terms of the dismissal, in spirit or in letter. The motion to dismiss is a statement we all hold in very high regard, and, without exception, all defendants take its ennobling words very seriously. The eagerness of defendants to recite the motion, en masse, in ceremonial fashion in court testifies to our commitment.

Over 144 people were given the offer to dismiss in the interests of justice so long as they could stand by this statement. At this writing, 60 have had their dismissals, and the only thing that separates them from the remaining 84 that were scheduled to be dismissed this evening is that the first 60 people had the luck of having an appearance date scheduled sooner than today’s defendants.

We are concerned about the implications of revoking offers for the 84 remaining based on the actions of 19 unrelated people. We are all individuals and believe that it is our right to be treated as such by the courts. We have never promised there would be no more protests, or no arrests. And we could not make that promise even if we wanted to. It is each citizen’s right to protest under the First Amendment, and our role, to the extent that We Are Seneca Lake is an organized group, is to train and organize people and groups that want to protest so that if they protest, whether risking arrest or not, they know how to do it so that the protest is peaceful and nonviolent, and there is cooperation with law enforcement.

Background

The Earth Day blockade, the first since February 11, brought the total number of arrests to 235 in the six-month-old civil disobedience campaign, which opposes Crestwood’s plans for methane storage expansion in lakeside salt caverns.

Public opposition to Crestwood’s dangerous plans is growing, as evidenced by the now 24 municipal resolutions against its gas storage at Seneca Lake.

The daily news is full of reports and imagery of exploding gas lines, derailed bomb trains, and communities injured by gas infrastructure. Three days before Earth Day, a natural gas pipeline in Fresno exploded, injuring 11 and closing a major highway. The day before Earth Day, the New York Times ran an expose about the danger of bomb trains rolling through NYS communities carrying highly flammable fuels, of the type that will be riding the rails through Watkins Glen State Park to service the Seneca Lake salt caverns.

Crestwood is a Texas-based energy company with a terrible track record for safety that is willing to play Russian roulette with our drinking water. It is little wonder that new groups of people feel morally compelled to take non-violent action based on these reports and their own individual conscience—having exhausted all other legal recourse.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Sandra Steingraber | 607.351.0719

photos: http://www.wearesenecalake.com/earth-day-2015-blockade-photos/

video: http://www.wearesenecalake.com/video/

                Nineteen Protesters Arrested This Morning

          in Earth Day Blockade at Crestwood Midstream

Protesters Call on Senators Schumer, Gillibrand 

to Halt Fracked Gas Infrastructure Buildout at Seneca Lake

Watkins Glen, NY – In an act of civil disobedience, nineteen people from ten New York counties created a human blockade this morning at both of the gated entrances of Crestwood Midstream. Protesters prevented all traffic from entering or leaving the gates before their arrests shortly after 10 a.m. by Schuyler County Sheriff’s deputies and NY state troopers.

None of the protesters arrested this morning had been previously arrested as part of the We Are Seneca Lake movement, which opposes Crestwood’s plans for methane storage expansion in lakeside salt caverns and which has been ongoing since October 2014.

Today’s arrests mark the first since February 11 and bring the total number of arrests to 235 in the six-month-old civil disobedience campaign.

Two dozen other Finger Lakes residents rallied along Route 14, holding signs and banners that declaimed the beauty of the region and declared themselves united against gas storage.

Crestwood’s methane gas storage expansion project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last October in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of Seneca Lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people.

Arrested protesters were transported to the Schuyler County Sheriff’s department, charged with trespassing, and released.

Protester Deborah Guard, 64, of Niskayuna in Schenectady County, said, “I was born and raised in Geneva and was a college student during the first Earth Day, and I’ve commemorated it for 45 years. I spent by childhood along these shores. Our farm used water directly from this lake. Without the lake, there would be no agriculture. In honor of Earth Day today, I felt that I had to travel from Schenectady back to my birthplace and defend it.”

While blockading, Bonnie Chollet, 70, of Horseheads delivered a message to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer: “We have written our letters and circulated petitions and sent our emails to our senators. We really want to see some action and you are our representatives. There are thousands of New Yorkers concerned about Seneca Lake. Although fracking is supposed to be banned, the methane is being gathered in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and Crestwood is looking to store it here. It is not for local markets as the pipelines that connect the salt caverns to the Northeast show us.”

Many protesters drove for many miles to attend this morning’s protest in a show of Finger Lakes-wide solidarity with Seneca Lake.

Bob Thompson, 61, of Livonia said, “I live by Hemlock Lake. If you break one finger, it affects the whole hand. I’m here to protect the finger called Seneca Lake. During the anti-fracking movement, we got a lot of support in Livingston County from people in other counties. I want to pay that back.”

Those arrested today were:

Melanie Bush, 50, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Cynthia Carestio, 54, Canandaigua, Ontario County

Bonnie Chollet, 70, Horseheads, Chemung County

Nancy Cook, 62, Painted Post, Steuben County

Barbara Coyle, 63, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Bill Glasner, 67, Victor, Ontario County

Elsbette Grove, Wolcott, Wayne County

Deborah Guard, 64, Niskayuna, Schenectady County

Heide Horowitz, 76, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Gale Lyons, 72, Elmira, Chemung County

Lee Marcus, 65, Arkport, Steuben County

Larry Martin, 64, Town of Torrey, Yates County

Kit Miller, 52, Rochester, Monroe County

Sheila Out, 65, Ithaca, Tompkins

Lisa Ripperton, 64, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Maribeth Rubenstein, 49, Aurora, Cayuga County

Todd Saddler, 50, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Jim Shaw, 64, Ithaca, Tompkins County

Bob Thompson, 61, Livonia, Livingston County

Read more about the arrested protesters at: http://www.wearesenecalake.com/seneca-lake-defendes/.

Read more about widespread objections to Crestwood’s gas storage plans:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/nyregion/new-york-winemakers-fight-gas-storage-plan-near-seneca-lake.html?_r=0.

Background on the protests:

Protesters have been blocking the Crestwood gas storage facility gates since Thursday, October 23, including a rally with more than 200 people on Friday, October 24th. On Wednesday, October 29, Crestwood called the police and the first 10 protesters were arrested.  More information and pictures of the actions are available at www.WeAreSenecaLake.com.

The unified We Are Seneca Lake protests started on October 23rd because Friday, October 24th marked the day that major new construction on the gas storage facility was authorized to begin. The ongoing acts of civil disobedience come after the community pursued every possible avenue to stop the project and after being thwarted by an unacceptable process and denial of science. The protests are taking place at the gates of the Crestwood compressor station site on the shore of Seneca Lake, the largest of New York’s Finger Lakes.

The methane gas storage expansion project is advancing in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of the lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. Crestwood has indicated that it intends to make Seneca Lake the gas storage and transportation hub for the northeast, as part of the gas industry’s planned expansion of infrastructure across the region.

*Note that the WE ARE SENECA LAKE protest is to stop the expansion of methane gas storage, a separate project from Crestwood’s proposed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage project, which is on hold pending a Department of Environmental Conservation Issues Conference on February 12.

As they have for a long time, the protesters are continuing to call on President Obama, U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, Governor Cuomo, and Congressman Reed to intervene on behalf of the community and halt the dangerous project. In spite of overwhelming opposition, grave geological and public health concerns, Crestwood has federal approval to move forward with plans to store highly pressurized, explosive gas in abandoned salt caverns on the west side of Seneca Lake. While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has temporarily halted plans to stockpile propane and butane (LPG) in nearby caverns—out of ongoing concerns for safety, health, and the environment—Crestwood is actively constructing infrastructure for the storage of two billion cubic feet of methane (natural gas), with the blessing of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

More background, including about the broad extent of the opposition from hundreds of wineries and more than a dozen local municipalities, is available on the We Are Seneca Lake website at http://www.wearesenecalake.com/press-kit/.