ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – Protestors gathered at the Mountain Valley Pipeline site on Thursday to send a powerful message to pipeline leaders, and police ended up arresting one of them.
Roanoke County Police said Amelia Greenwald of Dayton, Virginia was charged with obstruction of justice without force and obstruction of free passage.
Greenwald attached her arms to barrels on Thursday to prevent workers from accessing the worksite up in the Bent Mountain area. More protestors stood in solidarity during the act.
“We came out to support a brave protestor that’s really putting their body on the line,” Bela Williams said.
Pipeline demonstrations have been happening for years, whether protestors are locking themselves to construction equipment, a broken down car, or even tree sitting.
“This pipeline would have been built a while ago, probably, if not for the work of countless people at rallies, speaking up at town hall meetings, writing their congressman and then folks putting their very bodies on the line,” Williams said.
A pipeline spokesperson told 10 News last week that construction is moving forward and should be complete around the end of May.
“It’s hard to wrap your mind around people that would build a pipeline in steep terrain, karst topography, caves, caverns and communities,” protestor Jammie Hale. “Poor communities. People who can’t afford to fight back.”
Just last week, the project was cited by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality for violations of erosion and sediment control while they were running water through the pipeline to make sure there were no leaks.
“This pipeline, it endangers my property and my way of life,” Hale said.
10 News reached out to Mountain Valley Pipeline for their reaction to Thursday’s protests, and they released a statement:
“Mountain Valley strongly condemns the shameless and illegal antics of demonstrators who continue to engage in stunts like this in support of their radical agenda. The MVP is fully permitted and has been recognized as critical energy infrastructure that serves the national interest; however, opponents continue to show their disregard for the rule of law.
Regardless of one’s view on MVP, there should be common ground for everyone to oppose these kinds of unlawful activities, which waste public resources.”
Mountain Valley Pipeline