Mountain Valley Pipeline protester locks herself to buried lockbox at Roanoke County worksite
A Mountain Valley Pipeline protester has locked herself to a buried lockbox at a worksite on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, where workers are working on clearing vegetation on the mountain, according to the Appalachians Against Pipelines.
'Raging Granny' locked to equipment at Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site
ELLISTON, Va. - A "raging granny" has locked herself to equipment at a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in Montgomery County. According to Appalachians Against Pipelines, the self-identified "raging granny," 75-year-old Duff Benjamin, is attached to equipment under a banner reading "PIPELINES BLOW" on Cove Hollow Road near the tree sits outside Elliston. Courtesy of Appalachians Against PipelinesThe activist group says Benjamin has shut down construction at the site. Below is a statement from Benjamin, sent out by the protest group:"The problem with pipelines is they always leak. Because I see human kind as one huge family, and I am a member, I cannot sit back and watch this happen silently.
![Two Mountain Valley Pipeline protesters lock themselves to equipment](https://media.wsls.com/photo/2018/12/18/Mountain%20Valley%20Pipeline%20may%20never%20be%20finished20181218231405.jpg_15882903_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Two Mountain Valley Pipeline protesters lock themselves to equipment
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. - Two Mountain Valley Pipeline protesters have locked themselves to equipment, according to advocacy group Appalachians Against Pipelines. The group says the protest can be seen from where the pipeline crosses Wades Gap Road. Copyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.
![Groups petition Gov. Northam to return money donated by Mountain Valley Pipeline](https://media.wsls.com/photo/2019/08/01/Protesters_call_on_Gov_Ralph_Northam_to_return_10000_MVP_contribution_1564717069010_22146533_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Groups petition Gov. Northam to return money donated by Mountain Valley Pipeline
Ralph Northam to return money that Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC contributed to his gubernatorial political action committee on Monday. A citizen-run Clean Money Coalition gathered Thursday in Roanoke to launch the petition to make Northam return a $10,000 contribution from the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The group also says that it is calling on Attorney General Mark Herring to investigate the donation by examining all correspondence between the Northam administration and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The petition is sponsored by Clean Money Squad/Represent U.S. Roanoke Valley, Preserve Salem, Indivisible Virginia and Activate Virginia. The construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been controversial and is facing opposition.
![Protester arrested for blocking path of Mountain Valley Pipeline](https://media.wsls.com/photo/2019/07/18/Image3%20_OP_1_CP__1563503304516.jpg_22111876_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Protester arrested for blocking path of Mountain Valley Pipeline
Violet blocked the pipeline easement for five hours before being extracted and arrested. The spot where Violet locked herself in is not far from where another pipeline protestor, Phillip Flagg, was arrested on July 13. Violet locked into her campsite about halfway up the hillside. Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against PipelinesThe Mountain Valley Pipeline is a fracked gas pipeline that will span over 300 miles from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. Violet is the seventh person in 2019 to be arrested for locking into the path of the pipeline, according to Appalachians Against Pipelines.
Mountain Valley Pipeline protester charged after locking himself to equipment
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. - A 26-year-old Blacksbug man faces multiple charges after police say he locked himself to Mountain Valley Pipeline construction equipment. At 7 a.m. Friday, Virginia State Police troopers and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to reports of individuals securing themselves to equipment being used for the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction. State police spent several hours trying to negotiate Michael James-Deramo's surrender as he had secured himself to an excavator at the pipeline work site in the 3000 block of Bradshaw Road. He complied and released himself from the "sleeping dragon" device he was using to secure himself to the construction equipment. With the assistance of two troopers and a mechanical lift, he was lowered to the ground.