Protesters arrested after rally against Mountain Valley Pipeline in Elliston

Published: Aug. 9, 2021 at 8:26 AM EDT
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ELLISTON, Va. (WDBJ) - People protesting the environmental impacts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline chained themselves Monday morning to construction equipment and other blockades in Montgomery County.

According to Appalachians Against Pipelines, ten people locked themselves to equipment in the Cove Hollow Road area to protect such things as fish and birds the group says are native species threatened by the MVP. All ten have been removed and arrested, and released from jail. The group said there were about 100 protesters in all; the other 90 left the scene.

Mountain Valley Pipeline work was stopped for more than eight hours during the protest, according to AAP.

Banners on site read, “STOP Mountain Valley Pipeline” and “Defend the Sacred.”

Click here for earlier stories about the pipeline.

“Right now we’re looking at a future with extreme water shortages, accelerating difficulty in growing food, mass human displacement due to natural disasters and manmade disasters caused by pipelines like these,” said Mandy, one of the protesters. “In the face of all those things, we continue to trample over Indigenous treaty rights, something that this country has never honored or valued. This is just another example of how corporations are given permission to act with impunity over the health and safety of the people that live here. I’m here to stop the ecocide and the ongoing genocide against Native peoples, and I’m here to fight for a habitable future on our planet. Land back is the only way forward.”

Another protester said, “What I hope for is that our action today, in addition to stopping construction on the evil snake, inspires you to be disruptive and to embrace the power of refusal. It’s easy to see injustice, but now is the time to put your body in the way — and when folks tell you to get back in line, you can refuse. When the cops tell me to unlock myself from this equipment, I will refuse. Despite the vast power of the state, I have the power to refuse in ways that cause real disruption, and you do too!”

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