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12 arrested at West Roxbury pipeline protest
By adamg on Thu, 10/22/2015 - 10:46am
One of the first protesters to be arrested is led to a prisoner wagon.
A group of West Roxbury residents and students from Hampshire College and UMass Amherst briefly blocked construction of a trench up Washington Street for a high-pressure natural-gas pipeline this morning before they were cuffed, put in prisoner wagons and taken down to District E-5 for booking.
It's the third such protest against the pipeline and the largest number of protesters arrested at one time.
Starting shortly after 9 a.m., the 12 separated from about 20 other protesters on the sidewalks and walked to the trench where the 750-psi pipeline will go, on its way from Dedham to a transfer station at Grove and Centre streets, where it will connect to National Grid's local distribution system. Protesters say the pipeline will be a menace to the neighborhood, especially the transfer station.
They held hands and chanted and sang against the pipeline and against Spectra, the company building it, for about 15 minutes. Workers stopped extending the trench from the inbound side to the outbound side of Washington, just past Rockland Towers.
Then, a protest organizer who had just talked to E-5 Captain Joseph Gillespie told them police said they could only continue protesting until a second prisoner wagon showed up to join the one already stationed there. About ten minutes later, it arrived, and Gillespie gave the protesters one last chance to disperse.
When they didn't, an officer got out a cache of plastic cuffs and the protesters were put in them, taken to the wagons, pat frisked and loaded into the wagons to await their ride to the local police station.
As the last of them was put in a wagon and the doors shut, supporters chanted "We'll be back! We'll be back!"
Before the work stoppage:
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Comments
Careless gas pipeline workers
Careless gas pipeline workers have already struck a water main... I don't blame these residents for protesting one bit.
Don't you mean
Careless Dig Safe workers failed to properly mark the location of the water main.
How do you know this?
How do you know this? Citation please.
Spectra often waives Eminent Domain papers
Just so you know, The City of Boston went to Federal Court twice with Spectra because Spectra refused to comply with the PIC which is the normal permitting process for opening the streets for water or gas or cable. Instead of going through the normal channels which would have taken 60 days or less, they sued Boston. Judge Young, made both parties agree to work together and coordinate on issues such as citing where water mains are cable etc. Each time Spectra workers, which are made up of almost all out of state workers from Texas ( though a rebel flag sticker isn't proof of residency, they have been cited on hardhats and work clothing of workers) continue to do whatever they feel like doing. They have not cared a bit about what they damage along the way. I have personally been on the cite in various places from Dedham to Boston, they are rude and not too terribly careful from the engineers to inspectors to workers. I have friends who live on the pipeline route who are regularly being harassed by these workers. And I have never experienced such arrogance and mistruths as I have from the mouths of as Spectra/Algonquin lawyers. In the case referenced above, the very arrogant Spectra lawyer was lecturing Judge Young on what he can and cannot rule on, " Judge Young your job is to rule on what is written on the four corners of this piece of paper and only that!" And my favorite Spectra lawyer, an Atty Bonsal swore to us before a meeting at the Dedham Conservation Commission that," I swear to you on the souls of my granddaughters... And that's a very important thing don't you know that the gas in these pipelines isn't going to Canada. ( If you look at the master plan, you can clearly see the lines going up to Nova Scotia on the maps). By the way, his granddaughters live in Dedham and would be playing soccer on Gonzales Field where the 750 psi pipeline is going to be built directly underneath!!
Careless? And you know that
Careless? And you know that how? Or you just assuming? Street markings are an inexact science, and I am sure the digging in that area is a joy , what with ledge probably, and maybe even old paved over streetcar or rail tracks.......
Could the Ambulances get through?
Could the Ambulances get through?
Yes
And MBTA buses and 18-wheelers and people walking their dogs, even large, barky boxers. They were blocking a construction site, not the road.
But still breaking a law, so
But still breaking a law, so thus arrested. I know those protestors have it rough protesting on a weekday when all of us are working hard at our jobs.
1:17 p.m.?
Does your boss know you're commenting on a Web site? Shouldn't you be working?
Dude ever hear of
Lunch break? Its a set time during work that you're allowed to do as you wish... Im taking a late one right now.....
Using company resources to go online?
Tsk.
Maybe
Maybe the dude has something called an iPhone?
Day off--ever heard of it?
You can't imagine any scenario where these protesters could have legitimately have gotten the day off? Or you really have proof that they are all unemployed?
discrediting dissent is more often than not ad hominem
Conservative reactionaries can think of a million ways to discredit people who organize to protest against policies they have ever right to protest, and most of those arguments are ad hominem.
Thats what the Boond Brothers
Thats what the Bond Brothers boss wants to know, why are people in a work zone impeding the digging. Havent they ever heard of OSHA ?
Maybe they
are business owners and set their own hours instead of slaving away to make someone else rich. Maybe they won the lottery or maybe they are retired. Maybe they work the third shift or maybe they took a vacation day to protest. The picture you are trying to paint of what kind of people protest serves only to reinforce your own false notions.
I don't believe any of these
I don't believe any of these scenarios. Did you look at the photos of the protestors?
Quit crying..
You probably have no idea what these people are even protesting. You're just anoother chronically angry American who sees somone doing something that you're to much of a coward to do, and you have to cry about it.
Also, lunch break my ass. You were dicking around during the work day. Admit it.
Quit crying..
You probably have no idea what these people are even protesting. You're just anoother chronically angry American who sees somone doing something that you're to much of a coward to do, and you have to cry about it.
Also, lunch break my ass. You were dicking around during the work day. Admit it.
Double parking = terrorism?
IF terrorism = "ambulances can't get through" THEN
double parking = terrorism;
delivery trucks = terrorism;
Double parking is worse than
Double parking is worse than terrorism
Traffic = terrorism
Traffic jams = terrorism; Drivers who cause them = terrorists?
If they arrested Westies for double parking
Holy Name would go out of business...
see also: Ferdinand the Duck
In the 1995 classic Babe:
Christmas means dinner...dinner means death...death means carnage.... CHRISTMAS MEANS CARNAGE!!!!!!
It's sad the city can produce
It's sad the city can produce protesters like this over a pipeline but can't keep up the same pressure against corruption, neglect, and incompetence at city agencies such as BPS.
And how do you know they don't?
Amazing but true: People can do more than one thing in their lives.
Tell me, when is your BPS protest? I'd like to attend.
We can't afford to have
We can't afford to have children at the moment with a high cost of living and meager incomes.
But you're already worried about schools?
Wow...that's planning ahead.
We might move to an area with
We might move to an area with a lower cost of living and marginally better schools. Commuting to work is an issue.
schools are fine
or are you planning on being an uninvolved parent who dumps their kids into BPS without much support? If so, then you might have an issue.
Life is unfair...
Deal with it. Also, if you can't afford kids, don't have them. It's a simple solution. You do realize the planet is getting overpopulated anyway, right?
Good schools usually means a
Good schools usually means a more desire able more involved more stable neighborhood and more taxes. I dont have kids but if i did and couldn't afford private schools i would move out of Boston because the public schools here are terrible except for a handful and if you aren't lucky enough to get in one of those you and your kids are screwed.
And boston throws a lot of money at the schools but 1/3 of it goes to transportation costs. The unions have fucked up BPS to the point that these charter schools are popping up everywhere to avoid them. And i am from a union family.
So yes, this couple is thinking about things now so prepared when they do have chil'rens
Obviously
You'd want to fix schools NOW, so that when your unborn are of age the system is ready for them.
incomes? phbbt.
This "we" stuff implies you're married. And the "meager incomes" bit implies that you work. You're going at it all wrong.
Wait--did we just go back to 1984?
It's been a while since I heard anyone make jokes about welfare moms. But yes--let's have a big boo-hoo for sad-face poster who apparently can't afford to live in Boston (with its corrupt, awful schools) in the style to which he/she has become accustomed.
We almost decided to taxpayer fund a $800M+ olympic budget gap
I'm with Sally on the welfare mom rhetoric. First, it's a racialized political argument and a fallacy.. See Ronald Reagan and Lee Atwater.
Second, the US spends a miniscule amount of money on kids living in poverty and their parents compared to other western countries ...to our shame.
Most of the people who can work and qualify for food assistance do work. Others are retired and disabled.
We pay poverty wages in the US so an adult working full time could still be living in poverty, and so too their kids.
It's dishonest cognitive dissonance to disparage the working poor who need and get welfare, and at the same time oppose a minimum wage that is a livable wage-- a wage that list you out of poverty. Federal taxpayers subsize McDonald's profits when McDonald's average worker, age 35, needs food stamps to make ends meet. McDonalds had $5 billion in profit. They could pay a livable wage. In Denmark, they pay $23 and hour.
More than half of the kids in BPS live at or near the poverty line, a third are English language learners, 19 of 41 class valedictorians last year were born outside the USA. These kids will be the leaders who inherit Boston and wherever life's adventures take them. Let's give them what they need to be prepared.
Realize that America has produced earnings growth for 40 years and most of it goes to the very rich while the wages of about 80% have remained flat. Understand that when you blame a person on food assistance, you're blaming a person who suffers in the same system that deprives you of wage growth from increased productivity.
Good info... However, what
Good info... However, what does this have to do with the gasline protest?
Back to the Future
Nope
I know some of the people involved in these protests. They insulated their homes and installed solar panels. They won't freeze because their houses barely need heat anyway, and they won't be in the dark because even winter solar exposure at this latitude is enough to store for the high efficiency lighting they use.
I don't understand
I don't understand why these people focus on things like protests, when they should be focusing on breathing and NOT DYING. Jeez!
They don't look like you average West Rox girls
The lack of Uggs and Yoga pants is a dead give away. However i guess im grateful that these young unemploy(ed/able) hippies from _______ showed up.
But then again, i dont think im in the blast radius down in Rozie Sq..
Uggs and Yoga pants? What do
Uggs and Yoga pants? What do you think it is, 2005?
Here's the deal
The reason this issue has been able to draw people to so many protests (other than the actual issue, which I am sympathetic to the abutters on) is that it is something concrete. This pipeline might be dangerous, so don't build it.
This compares with the environmental issues. A general protest against fracking or the use of hydrocarbons won't really go anywhere, but a project that directly endangers people will. That's why the people from the Happy Valley are there with homeowners.
So, I'll bite with your schools comparison. I don't want to step on the shoes of your planned protest against "corruption", but sadly, it doesn't excite. The kids at Madison Park not having class schedules a week into the school year- yes, those kids marched. Taking your kids from their local neighborhood schools, putting them on buses, and taking them to another neighborhood as part of some sociological experiment designed to create a level playing field for students of all races- if you don't know what I'm referencing, find a history of Boston and read it. And why did those protest happen? Because years before, parents of black children could concretely point to overcrowded, dilapidated schools and show that they were being denied a quality education due to race, and they protested.
So what concrete steps will you be asking for with your protests? Get concrete and don't be stupid about it and maybe people will show up. Stick with general thoughts like city agencies are corrupt and incompetent and you will be an army of one.
Correct me if I'm wrong Waquiot.
(and I could be wrong), but from what I have read, independent studies have been done and this WR pipeline is safe as any gas line would be safe. Fracking has proven to have had adverse effects on residents.
And I also feel that the protests are working because no one has had to go to jail over them yet. What usually happens is after you get arrested once for trespassing/protesting, you get a warning from the judge, the 2nd time you may have to pay a fine, and the third time you go to jail for a few days. People usually stop trespassing after that.
The studies were done by
The studies were done by Spectra.
Spectra said GZA GeoEnvironmental did the study.
Which isn't spectra.
Again, I'm just trying to see where the truth lies in all this. Even if Spectra hired GZA to do the study, its different than saying Spectra did the study.
You are not listening, as usual
All attempts to independently commission studies of the risks have resulted in the handful of companies that do such work refusing to undertake the studies, because they would get blacklisted by the utilities for doing so.
The utilities control the assessment firms and dictate the variables that they are allowed to consider in their assessments. They also control the ability of the firms to stay in business, which leads to a complete LACK of independence.
Your perfect little world does not exist. Deal with it.
Listening to who?
Your biased opinions? I've heard enough tin hat excuses to fill an infowars webpage.
What do we expect?
This is reality, dear. Not conspiracy theory - conspiracy reality.
Then again, one would expect such laughable naivete from someone who thinks that the police can impartially investigate the police.
Ahh another clueless anon.
You must be an expert on gas pipes and digging. (of course your not).
Funny immature passive aggressive remark about me though. No wonder why the courts ruled this gas project is going to go forward when geniuses like you are the ones opposing it (of course you don't even have the guts to register an anonymous name).
You are correct, Pete
But the fearmongering of the pipeline passing the quarry (I don't believe the studies and the studies are a bit less than independent, but I cannot deny they exist) is stronger than "hey people, fracking in general is bad since it could pollute water supplies." I don't know what goes on in gasland, but my guess is that were a new set of wells going in by an aquifer, people would be getting arrested.
As for the arresting, yeah, it's easy at first. A friend was out there at the start of the second Iraq war. He was warned to bring his credit card for bail.
No independent studies have been done.
Only studies contracted by Spectra. That's a major, major, major part of this protest for area residents and the main focus of online and offline petition drives. What is unreasonable about requesting an *independent review* of the health and safety effects of this project?
See http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-the-west-roxbury
The process is essentially self-certifying, and we all know the benefits of *that* policy - see http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=VLKAY
We do all realize that it is in the best interest
of Spectra to keep everyone safe, correct?
Safety is paramount for a natural gas company that runs high pressure pipeline, and especially in close proximity to residential areas.
Another good point JP Runner.
If a survey company tells spectra that there is a chance of an explosion, (meaning jail time and possibly millions of dollars in fines and lawsuits), Utility companies aren't going to risk that.
Historical perspective
I'm sure the Purity Distilling Company would have made the same argument. "Our tank can't be unsafe, it's in a residential area. Please ignore the fact that we had to paint it brown to hide the leaks."
Well,
You don't think there would be a bigger s*"', or molasses, storm to deal with in 2015 then there was way back then for a "cover up" of a neighborhood hazard?
There is no "painting over the leaks" in a high pressure pipeline.
No 21st century fuel transportation company
So no modern, 21st century, company involved in transporting fossil fuels would ever risk causing a horrible accident because it would be bad for business?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-Mégantic_rail_disaster
Pipelines are way, way safer than via railroad .
Fuel needs to get where its going (to us/for us for power generation) and the far safer option is by pipeline.
Buy the quarry
So why hasn't the pipeline company just purchased the quarry and turned it over to the city as a park yet? Doing so would take away the biggest argument against the pipeline.
The cost of the quarry site would pale in comparison to how much the pipeline is costing and how much they plan to make from the gas sale.
They don't have to
That would be nice, but why would they bother?
Spectra can do anything they want related to installing their pipeline. They didn't even have to go through any sort of city permitting process for it - they just claimed rights to the streets using eminent domain.
Quarry doesn't want to sell.
Quarry doesn't want to sell.
You kiddin' me?
That quarry would go for millions. Not chump change.
They sold a plot to RL for $21.1M
http://www.wickedlocal.com/article/20081028/News/310289277
Good
on them!
I love
How any time someone decides to exercise their right to free speech, someone chimes in with the cliche, about how its great the protesters don't have to work. Ironically, if it's something like the Tea Party, or some sort of right wing concern, all worries about employment seem to vanish.
The Boston Tea Party
happened in the evening.
Learn your history.
Another thing about the Boston Tea Party
is that it was a protest against taxes. Something Massachusetts residents have not done since.
What are you, 15?
Never heard of Prop. 2 1/2?
taxing memory
Last November, Massachusetts voters repealed the annual inflation adjustment on the gas tax, which will reduce transportation funding by $1,000,000,000 over 10 years.
The ballot initiative was sponsored by a tea party republican in the House of Rep who was kicked out of leadership in the minority leader.
The inflation adjustment would have cost the average motorist about $12 a year.
Interesting
And the price of tea in China today is £ 1.15.
I remember Prop 2 1/2, and it didn't last long.
When Prop 2 1/2 was implemented and people also found that their police and fire protection were also cut, they howled, so the police and fire stations in question were re-opened, to at least make it look like they were re-opened.
Prop. 2 1/2 also resulted in the cutting of teachers, etc., and other services. When people realized that their vital services, including snow removal in the winter, police and fire protection, etc., were being cut, they realized that Prop. 2 1/2 was really bad news, so it eventually was voted out.
No, no, just no
Prop. 2 1/2 was NOT voted out, it's very much in place.
What happened in the years after its passage was the state economy improved and the state was able to replace a lot of the education money that was lost (you may recall the "Massachusetts Miracle" that got Dukakis the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988) , and places like Boston saw a building boom (granted, nothing like what we're seeing today, but still) and saw their property-tax revenue increase.
But 2 1/2 is still very much the law of the commonwealth and cities and town still cannot raise their total property-tax revenue by more than 2.5% each year. Communities that want to exceed their annual 2 1/2-based cap on property-tax revenue for building a new school or police station or whatever still have to hold an override vote.
It's Terrible
It's awful that these shills of the Home Heating Oil Delivery Companies are protesting cleaner burning fuel in support of their dirty oil for heating our homes. They want us to have to live forever with those awful diesel trucks spewing particulates all over our neighborhoods, double parking and blocking our streets all so they can make money off delivering their dirty solutions. I hope they file a RICO statute violation.
What?
I don't think you've thought this through. They protesters do not want ANY fossil fuel to be burned - switching from oil to gas is somewhat cleaner but is short sighted.
Sarcasm
Ever heard of it?
when sarcasm fails
The problem with that piece of sarcasm is it has no hyperbolic snap! The argument is totally within the realm of the gas line proponents' ideas. In fact you may have given them a tactic! Life has gotten so asinine that satire, sarcasm and other tricks of the snarky trade are getting lapped by the absurdity of reality. Thank god we still got The Onion.
Fun Fact , maybe of interest
Fun Fact , maybe of interest to JP Res.
In my travels, I saw a Devaney Oil truck. They originally were from McBride Street JP, and just past them was The Boston Gas Company. Dueling fuel suppliers , even back then.
You might want to talk to some of them
About how their homes are heated and what their concerns are.
True, that would require actually going to one of the protests or vigils they hold on the regular, but JP isn't that far from West Roxbury, really. I actually know at least one JP resident who has even participated in some of the protests.