UPDATE: Pipeline Foes Protest Again at Spectra Work Site

CORTLANDT, NY – A dozen people calling themselves the HudsonStand12 face charges after trying to disrupt Spectra Energy’s pipeline expansion project on Thursday.

The protest was a joint effort by the local group Resist Spectra and Mississippi Stand, an Iowan-based group who fought the recent Dakota Access Pipeline under the Des Moines River, said spokeswoman Courtney Williams. Williams said the protesters swarmed activities at the construction site and locked to each other around construction equipment.

Spectra Energy spokeswoman Carolyn Daly said the protestors did not disrupt the construction and did not lock each other to the equipment. She alleged that the protesters were paid and said 11 of 12 of them live in Mississippi.

The HudsonStand12 were charged with Criminal Trespass and Resisting Arrest and arraigned early Friday morning by Judge Daniel McCarthy, Williams said.

Nine pipeline opponents were found guilty last week for blockading Spectra's construction yard in 2015.

Judge McCarthy sent the 12 to the Westchester Correctional Facility. The District Attorney asked for $50,000 bail for each arrestee, but Attorney David Dorfman, professor and supervising attorney of the Pace Criminal Justice Clinic who represented the protesters was able to reduce the bail to $5,000 each, Williams said.

"The greater community across the entire Northeast who is affected by the Spectra Pipeline from New Jersey to Massachusetts and beyond came together to raise funds for all 12 water protectors' release," Williams said.

The last to be released was at 5:11 a.m. Sunday morning. They will face the judge in Cortlandt town court on Monday, Williams said.

“All over the country, from North Dakota to New York, we are seeing how ordinary people are stopping the fossil fuel industry, and I hope that today’s action will encourage more people to rise up and defend their homes wherever they are,” said Garrett O'Connor of Brooklyn, NY, one of the 12 people arrested.

One objection the protesters have to Spectra Energy’s AIM Pipeline is that it would run within 105 feet of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant safety facilities, Williams said, citing documents from Entergy, Indian Point's owner.

Jerry Nappi, a spokesman for Indian Point, said the facility being cited is the plant's switchyard. No nuclear event would be expected if the switchyard were to cease functioning, he said. Blackouts have occurred before at Indian Point and probably most other nuclear plants across the country without causing damage to vital functions, he said.

The pipeline has been opposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as many local officials in Cortlandt and Westchester County.

"This is part of a much larger story—pipeline companies all across the country collude with regulatory agencies like FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to stifle popular opposition," Williams said.

RELATED:

• Pipeline Protesters Found Guilty of 2015 Trespass
• Work Can Start on 1st Algonquin Pipeline Project: FERC
• Pipeline Foes Stage Die-In to Protest Public Health Dangers
• FERC Says Environmental Impacts of Pipeline Expansion Minimal
• Is Algonquin Expansion Part of System Upgrade: FERC

Images by Erik McGregor

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Spectra Energy and Indian Point.