Submitted by the Greenbrier River Watershed Association
On Apr. 22, three supporters were arrested at the monopod blockade in Giles County, VA, while attempting a humanitarian delivery of food and water to the sitter perched atop the structure.
The monopod continues to block Pocahontas Road, a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) access road leading to the construction site where MVP intends to bore horizontally through Peters Mountain under the Appalachian Trail. The road is a Forest Service road which has been closed to the public on behalf of MVP by Jefferson National Forest Supervisor Joby Timm.
“I was expressing my right to protest the inhumane treatment that the Forest Service is illegally enforcing on the monopod sitter,” said Doug Chancey, one of the supporters arrested in the alleged resupply attempt. “USFS says the closure of Pocahontas Road is for our safety. But there is nothing safe about not being able to use the road in order to provide food and water to a fellow activist in a civil, nonviolent action to stop this unnecessary fracked gas pipeline from ruining the water, environment, and tourism in our beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. This pipeline is an atrocity for the people and the great state of Virginia, and I will continue to fight it.”
On the scene were heavily armed personnel from the US Forest Service, Virginia State Police, and Giles County Sheriff’s Office. These agencies and officials have shown once again that they are committed to protecting the interests of MVP – a private, for-profit company set on destroying the land and ravaging communities.
In addition to the three arrests, a fourth supporter was cited for allegedly being within the closure.
