Arrests: Pipeline Foes Block Worksites in Cortlandt

Eleven opponents of the Algonquin pipeline expansion were arrested Monday morning during a protest in Cortlandt. This is the second time a group of protesters was arrested for halting work on the pipeline: a group blocked access to their construction yard Nov. 9.

New York State Police said they were called to two separate locations at 6:50 a.m. Feb. 29 because protesters were blocking the entrance to an Algonquin Pipeline worksite.

The group of 26 activists and residents chose the site because it highlights the danger of the proposed pipeline, running underneath the Hudson River and adjacent to the troubled Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. In May of 2015, Spectra Energy had a pipeline rupture underneath the Arkansas River and wasunaware of it until the Coast Guard informed them.

“If Spectra cannot adequately maintain and monitor their existing pipelines, why should we believe that they can do so for this new pipeline?” asked Erik Lindberg, a Peekskill resident who works with ResistAIM, in a prepared statement.

Police advised the people who were blocking one pipeline entrance on Broadway and another on 9th Street in Verplanck that if they failed to leave and allow workers to enter the site, they would be arrested.

As a result, 11 protesters were charged with Disorderly Conduct, a Violation, after they failed to comply with a lawful order, police said.

All were issued appearance tickets directing them to appear before the Town of Cortlandt Justice Court on March 11, 2016 and released from police custody.

The Algonquin natural gas pipeline owned by Spectra Energy runs through Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties on its way to New England. Spectra’s plan to enlarge the pipeline includes three projects so far.

The AIM Project involves the construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of 37.4 miles of pipeline and related facilities in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Most of the pipeline installation will replace existing pipeline with larger diameter pipeline.

Atlantic Bridge includes replacement of another 10.9 miles of existing pipeline with new larger diameter pipe.

Access Northeast includes the expansion of approximately 125 miles of the existing Algonquin pipeline system. Suggested receipt points would be on the west end of the Algonquin system

RELATED:

• Pipeline Project Making Progress Under the Hudson
• FERC Rejects Pipeline Foes’ Requests to Halt, Reopen Hearings into AIM
• Arrests as Protesters Block Pipeline Staging Area

IMAGES provided by ResistAIM