August 18th was a two part action; the first, to use new tactics to maximize the work stoppage time of Spectra’s construction, the second to further build a culture of resistance with small group of people taking action together as friends and strangers, but all with a common cause.

Three resisters, Tom Mcdonald of Roslindale, Tim Clancy of West Roxbury, and one woman who asked to remain unnamed, locked themselves to Spectra Energy’s entrance gates before workers showed up for the day and blocked in all heavy construction equipment, preventing work to start for the day.

The three stop worked by locking their arms into ‘lockboxes’, specially designed to prevent the user from being separated from the box. They were finally cut out with circular saws by emergency responders, but not before work had been stop for 90 minutes, giving the Spectra a late start to the day.

 

Tom and Tim were charged with Trespassing, Disturbing the Peace and Destruction of Property. Their friend was charged with Trespassing and Disturbing the Peace.

Approximately an hour later, construction was underway, so seven more resisters to their chance to enter the site of street construction, jumping into the trench that is holding the new high pressure pipeline.

The seven, Brown Pulliam, Greg Reinauer, Sabine von Merin, Diane Martin, Nathan Phillips, PJ Donworth and Michael Bucci stopped construction for another 90 minutes, bringing the total amount of work stoppage for the day to 3 hours, the longest single day total that didn’t result in a full day of work on the pipeline cancelled.

The lengthy time that work was stopped was because these 10 resisters refused to comply with orders to remove themselves from construction sites. This is nonviolent civil disobedience. It is disregarding common law when deference to common law is leading to destruction of people and their homes as ‘sacrifice zones’, jeopardizing global food systems, waterways, air quality, and forest vitality, accelerating coastal erosion,  permafrost melting, coral reef bleaching, titanic forest fires, and city-engulfing flood rains.

Join the resistance to stop this pipeline. If you live near other pipeline projects, fracking wells or fracking waste disposal sites, organize or join a resistance.