A group of Athens County residents wearing hazmat style suits and respirators gathered in front of the Hazel Ginsburg Well frack-waste injection well on Ladd Ridge Road. They demanded that the ODNR shut the well down. The protesters held banners that read “Shut it Down, No New Permits”, “ODNR, You Have the Facts, Shut this Toxic Well Down” “Our Safety is Not for Sale”, and “Clean Drinking Water is a Human Right”. Many of the signs were emblazoned with the symbol for radioactivity. The protest was also in solidarity with those who today are blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline in Texas. Continue reading →
As we speak, members of Croatan Earth First! and participants from our Piedmont Direct Action Camp are locked together, barricading North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) building in downtown Raleigh. Providing physical, active resistance against fracking in North Carolina, CEF! has chosen DENR for an action as they are responsible for helping legalize fracking, and will be responsible for regulating it. They have also hired a corrupt Mining Commission board, filled with gas and oil representatives. We are letting them know that this farce won’t stand! No compromise in defense of Mother Earth! Continue reading →
If you’re want to see an incredible display of power, peaceful protest check out this video from the Candle Fracking-Well action. You’ll see protest sermons, courageous mass action, and even a home-made banjo soundtrack.
To: News Media
From: Nate Ebert, Spokesperson Appalachia Resist!
RE: Madeline ffitch status conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today the status conference for Madeline ffitch, the Athens County resident who faces a fifth degree felony charge for blocking a frack-waste injection well was held at the Athens County Courthouse. The prosecution continued to ask that Madeline be disallowed from peacefully and legally participating in any Athens County anti-fracking protest, while counsel for the defense argued that this violates the defendant’s first amendment rights. After the conference, Madeline and her legal counsel Bob Fitrakis made statements to press and supporters. They noted this week’s U.S geological survey study showing that the frack-waste being dumped in Ohio shows radioactivity levels over 3000 times higher than federal safety standards for drinking water. They also noted the lax standards for Class II injection well safety in Ohio. Madeline said, “When government ignores its citizens, principled and conscientious people must act. The dumping of toxic radioactive waste here threatens the entire population of Appalachian Ohio. Citizens must act. They must. This is no less than a matter of life and death.”
More than 50 protesters affiliated with the R.A.M.P.S. Campaign have walked onto Patriot Coal’s Hobet mine and shut it down. Ten people locked to a rock truck, boarded it and dropped banners: ”Coal Leaves, Cancer Stays.” At least three have been arrested, with another in a tree being threatened by miners with a chain saw. Earlier in the day, two people were arrested at Kanawha State Forest before a group of protesters headed to the state capitol.
