Protest against fracking. (photo: marcellusprotest.org)
PA
Township Legalizes Civil Disobedience
10 May 16
This is a
press release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund about a
groundbreaking strategy of resistance by a small Pennsylvania town trying to
defend itself from the fossil fuel industry.
Grant Township, Indiana County, PA: Tonight, Grant Township Supervisors passed a first-in-the- nation law that legalizes nonviolent direct action to stop frack wastewater injection wells within the Township. Pennsylvania General Energy Company (PGE) has sued the Township to overturn a local democratically-enacted law that prohibits injection wells.
If a court does not
uphold the people’s right to stop corporate activities threatening the
well-being of the community, the ordinance codifies that, “any natural person
may then enforce the rights and prohibitions of the charter through direct
action.” Further, the ordinance states that any nonviolent direct action to
enforce their Charter is protected, “prohibit[ing] any private or public actor
from bringing criminal charges or filing any civil or other criminal action
against those participating in nonviolent direct action.”
Grant Township
Supervisor Stacy Long explained, "We're tired of being told by
corporations and our so-called environmental regulatory agencies that we can't
stop this injection well! This isn't a game. We're being threatened by a
corporation with a history of permit violations, and that corporation wants to
dump toxic frack wastewater into our Township."
Long continued,
"I live here, and I was also elected to protect the health and safety of
this Township. I will do whatever it takes to provide our residents with the
tools and protections they need to nonviolently resist aggressions like those
being proposed by PGE."
In 2013, residents
in Grant Township learned that PGE was applying for permits that would legalize
the injection well. Despite hearings, public comments, and permit appeals
demonstrating the residents' opposition to the project, the federal
Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit to PGE.
Finding themselves
with no other options, residents requested the help of the Community
Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Grant Township Supervisors, with
broad community support, passed a CELDF-drafted Community Bill of Rights
ordinance in June 2014. The ordinance established rights to clean air and
water, the right to local community self-government, and the rights of nature.
The proposed injection well is prohibited as a violation of those rights.
PGE promptly sued
the Township, claiming that it had a "right" to inject within the
Township.
The case is ongoing.
Last year, in October 2015, the judge invalidated parts of the ordinance,
stating that the Township lacked authority to ban injection wells. Three weeks
later, in November 2015, residents voted in a new Home Rule Charter. The rights-based Charter reinstated the
ban on injection wells by a 2-to-1 vote, overriding the judge's decision.
CELDF assisted the
community with the drafting of the Charter and is representing the Township in
the ongoing litigation with PGE.
Grant Township
Supervisor and Chairman Jon Perry summed up the situation by saying,
"Sides need to be picked. Should a polluting corporation have the right to
inject toxic waste, or should a community have the right to protect
itself?"
Perry continued,
"I was elected to serve this community, and to protect the rights in our
Charter voted in by the people I represent. If we have to physically and
nonviolently stop the trucks from coming in because the courts fail us, we will
do so. And we invite others to stand with us."
Those others are
showing up. Tim DeChristopher, co-founder of the Climate Disobedience Center,
stated, “I’m encouraged to see an entire community and its elected officials
asserting their rights to defend their community from the assaults of the
fossil fuel industry, and I know there are plenty of folks in the climate
movement ready to stand with Grant Township.”
CELDF community
organizer Chad Nicholson has been working with the community since 2014. He
added, "In our country's history, we celebrate people standing up to
challenge unjust laws. The American Revolution, abolition, women's suffrage,
the labor and civil rights movements, marriage equality - all required people
to take action resisting illegitimate laws. All required creating new and more
just laws in their place. We applaud the people of Grant Township for taking
action as their community is threatened, and asserting their rights. It is an
honor to stand with them."
C 2015 Reader Supported News
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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