Members of “We Are Seneca Lake” seek to “engage in peaceful, nonviolent acts of protest, up to and including civil disobedience, until additional storage of LPG and methane in Seneca Lake salt caverns is halted,” according to their website, wearesenecalake.com.
The group has prolifically racked up over 200 arrests since last September. As I reported in a Feb. 2015 article, Schuyler County Sheriff Bill Yessman has stated the protesters’ continual presence has diverted police resources from other emergencies.
“We Are Seneca Lake” maintains a list of their arrested protesters to date on their website, complemented with photographs of the perpetrators holding signs or smiling as they are loaded into a police car. Peruse the list for a few minutes, and you will notice a pattern: the vast majority of the protesters are white and middle-aged, or older. The average age of the protesters whose charges were dropped is 55.4. Their median age? Also 55.
In the statements accompanying their photographs, many protesters mentioned being retired or currently out-of-work, and worrying about future generations. A noble sentiment, but it contradicts the portrayal of the huge sacrifices made by the protesters.
In a statement after the Wednesday night court case, defense attorney Sujata Gibson said, “I’ve watched Judge Berry and the ADA become very moved by the willingness of these human beings to make enormous sacrifices,” according to a March 20 Finger Lake Times article.
Judge Berry greatly deviated from his original position for sure, but one has question the characterization of the protesters’ action as “enormous sacrifices.” We Are Seneca Lake’s members have devoted much time to protesting the new Crestwood Midstream natural gas storage facility, but the group nearly prides itself on its retired constituency.
If anything, the collection of protesters’ photographs on We Are Seneca Lake’s website attests to the apparent trendiness of getting arrested among aging liberals. Note the number of members who allude to protests in the 1960s and ’70s and grin with their hands cuffed.
Judge Berry – who initially recommended maximum fines and jail sentences for the protesters – curiously accepted Assistant District Attorney John Tunney’s motion to dismiss the charges against every defendant. Defense Attorney Gibson described Berry’s decision as a “testament to the sincerity and passion of the protesters,” according to the Ithaca Journal article.
Judge Berry and Assistant District Attorney both made highly puzzling decisions. The Ithaca Journal article reports that the District Attorney’s office has yet to respond to inquiries about We Are Seneca Lake’s statement that they made an “agreement with the Schuyler’s County District Attorney’s Office.”
Despite Judge Berry’s opinions on the morality of the protesters’ cause, he cannot ignore that the protesters have routinely broken laws and impeded the Schuyler County Sheriff Department’s ability to respond to emergencies. The protesters’ statement before the judge that argued for their charges’ dismissal barely veils their intention to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, including trespassing and impeding Crestwood Midstream’s operations.
A section of their statement reads,
“As long as Crestwood Midstream Partners, or any other corporate or public or private entity, continues to threaten our way of life by the proven dangerous storage of highly compressed gas in the crumbling caverns at the Salt Point facility, I reserve the right to act as my conscience dictates in order to protect Seneca Lake, its citizens, and the surrounding environment. I reserve all rights to protest further at the Crestwood facility, although it is not my intent at this time to break the law in doing so.”
Even in their petition to have their charges dropped, the protesters only state that “it is not [their] intent at this time” to not continue breaking the law and necessitating the attention of an already strained police department.
Congratulations. These are great role models. This is the way Americans are supposed to protest. Peacefully. It demonstrates to young people that, instead of being glued to the latest brain-rotting electronic device, they can make a difference by putting their bodies on the line. Good for them.