SANDISFIELD — Eighteen protesters, including Ashfield Selectman Ron Coler, were arrested Tuesday morning at the entrance to Otis State Forest after they blocked a pipeline project access road.
Tennessee Pipeline Co. contractors were attempting to begin work on its Connecticut Expansion Project.
An estimated 60 to 75 people began picketing at Lower Spectacle Pond and moved onto state forest land that had been closed off to the public. They were protesting the government allowing the private company to build its pipeline through protected public lands.
Several protesters, members of the Sugar Shack Alliance Affinity Group, crossed into land now closed to the public. Another group split off and blocked a second access road.
Both actions were to oppose the company’s widening of its right of way through the forest by cutting trees — work that had begun on Sunday.
The protesters, were arrested by state police shortly after 10 a.m., according to Cate Woolner, a spokeswoman for the affinity group, whose members had undergone training to prevent violence.
Coler said in a written statement issued after his release Tuesday afternoon that state and federal officials have been “too slow to move (to stop) … utility and fossil fuel companies with their hands on the controls.”
He added, “Here at the municipal level of governance we can wait no longer … It is time to cross the line. Because of their lack of serious commitment and much-needed leadership to the real threat of global warming, I feel compelled to answer the call myself … and engage in this grassroots, non-violent, direct action here today.”
Coler also was arrested a year ago in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Coler, along with Steve Stoia of Northfield, Susan Triolo of Sunderland, Rema Nestel of Athol, John Cohen of Northampton, Martin Urbel if Northampton, Ben Van Arnem of Easthampton, Rema Loeb of Plainfield and Vivienne Simon of Florence, were released without bail after being charged with trespass and disorderly conduct after being arrested on Access Road 3.
Nine other arrests were made of protesters who blocked Access Road Number 2: Jim Perkins and Asaph Murfin of Leverett, Diane Sibley of Ashfield, Russell and Lydia Vernon-Jones of Amherst, Micky McKinly of Montague, Amy Tulley of Cummington, Joan Levy of Pelham, and Kevin Young of Northampton. Their charges and disposition were not available at press time.
State police said in a statement they “will seek to ensure that the rights of all parties are protected, including the rights of the contractors to complete this legally authorized project, the rights of nearby residents to safety and privacy, and the constitutionally protected rights of demonstrators to have a safe environment to lawfully assemble, speak and protest.”
Those arrested were taken to Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction for processing and were being arraigned in Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington.
Woolner said, “They’re going to be building this pipeline for the next six months. We’re going to be resisting all the way.”
Simon, added, “This land belongs to the people of Massachusetts and on behalf of all life on planet earth, we are proud to stand here!” Activists have pledged to continue their resistance to the pipeline until the project is stopped.
TGP issued a written statement saying it “respects the rights of individuals to engage in peaceful and lawful protests. It is our desire that protest activity be peaceful and lawful and that work areas are not disturbed or damaged. We are working closely with local, state and federal law authorities to seek to ensure that protesters have a safe and secure opportunity to exercise their First Amendment rights, including providing a secure area for them to do so, while, at the same time, providing for the safety and security for the much-needed critical infrastructure project.”
The company added it “is continuing work on its right-of-way …and is diligently seeking to adhere to permit and other conditions associated with state and federal approvals, including approval to proceed with construction granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Numerous issues relating to protection of the environment, the natural habitat, Native American sites/features, tribal consultation with federally recognized tribes, and a host of related matters have undergone extensive state and federal reviews during the course of the permitting process.”
Katherine Eiseman, president of Pipeline Awareness Network-Massachusetts, which filed last week in court to halt tree clearing on the roughly six-acre easement area in preparation for four miles of natural gas storage loop in Sandisfield connecting Connecticut and New York State, said in a statement, “The real tragedy in all of this is that no state actors have been willing to stand firmly and say that Connecticut does not need this pipeline, and certainly there is no need nor justification for it to cut through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ protected land and sacred tribal sites. While FERC’s decisions have been abysmal, the deck is stacked against concerned citizens seeking to protect the environment and public lands when our own environmental agencies in Massachusetts have been stripped down by a governor who is also seeking to eliminate all regulations that could impede corporate profits.”