BU professor exposes ties between pipeline company, federal regulators

Itai Vardi, who teaches sociology at Boston University, has been writing about the conflicts of interest in the relationship between natural gas pipeline company Spectra Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is tasked with regulating the company’s activities. Spectra is building the West Roxbury Lateral pipeline that many of our friends and neighbors have been protesting.

More than 100 protesters, including more than a dozen clergy and Al Gore’s daughter Karenna Gore Schiff, have been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience against the pipeline construction.

Here are Vardi’s recent posts about Spectra:

Former FERC Official Hired By Company With $1.8 Million Stake In Spectra Energy Pipeline Project He Had Reviewed

Revealed: Contractors Hired by FERC to Review a New Spectra Energy Pipeline Work for Spectra on a Related Project

Exposed: Spectra-Funded Group Lobbied for FERC Commissioner's Reappointment, Then FERC Approved Spectra’s Gas Pipelines

Stopping a Pipeline - Update from the Spectra Pipeline M&R Station Gate In West Roxbury

Editor's note: this post is a reprint of GreeningRozzie member Steve Gag's letter about his experience on July 5, 2016.
 

That's Jeff Gang and me in the green slickers holding the banner. Greg Tobin is offering support to our left. Five of my affinity group attended including three of us "riskers". - Photo by Laura Gang

By Steve Gag

WEST ROXBURY, Mass., Tuesday, July 5th - Four of us risked getting arrested in front of the metering and regulation station gate in West Roxbury earlier this morning. The metering and regulation station sits directly across the street from an active quarry that frequently uses dynamite. The gas line and station are within 50 yards of the quarry. The high pressure gas line isn't needed. It will be used to bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania to ports for export to other countries.

Jeff Gang and I holding one of the banners. The person in the car taking a picture of Laura Gang taking a picture is a guard for the Spectra Pipeline company. - Photo by Laura Gang

We sat down in front of the gate to prevent vehicles from entering and leaving. The four of us, along with 20+ supporters, shut the gate down twice before we were dragged away by several police officers.

No one was hurt and no one was arrested. The latest police tactic is to push and carry people out the construction areas rather than arrest protesters. Even going limp, which all four of us did twice, did not lead to arrest. We did disrupt things and we did slow construction down for a period of time which was the objective.

Shutting down an active construction site is not easy. Societal forces are aligned against us. 150+ folks have been arrested over the past 8 weeks and several hundred people have attended countless actions, vigils and demonstrations.

But as we have seen with the Keystone Pipeline and most recently with the Kinder Morgan Pipeline, when enough people get involved things do change. Let me know if you you are interested in participating. Go to resistthepipeline.org for more info.

Being dragged away from the gate by BPD officers. That's Tom from my affinity group next to me. Our two female "riskers" were dragged off to the other side of the gate. Average age of the group is 65+. - Photo by Laura Gang