As authorities clear out the Dakota Access pipeline protest camp, battles have flared up in other states — including Pennsylvania, which has become a major hub of natural gas development.
Anti-pipeline activists recently launched an encampment in Lancaster County, and they’ve been coordinating with groups around the country. The Lancaster activists want to disrupt construction of the newly approved Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline. They’re taking inspiration from Native Americans’ months-long campaign in North Dakota.
At the camp, there’s a big barn with freshly-painted red letters on the side, reading “Welcome to the Stand.” Mark Clatterbuck is with the group Lancaster Against Pipelines, which is leading the charge against the $3-billion Atlantic Sunrise pipeine. Once built, it will move natural gas southward through 10 Pennsylvania counties.
“This is a historic tobacco barn that we’re using as the base of operations,” Clatterbuck says. “That’s where we’re storing food donations, camping supplies, tarps.”
The owners of this Conestoga Township property refused to make a deal with Williams, the company building the Atlantic Sunrise. Now portions of the farm may be taken through eminent domain. So they’ve welcomed in dozens of protesters, who built a camp in one of their cornfields. It has a food truck, a large military tent and a pair of portable toilets. On Saturday, crews were installing power in the barn.
