Seneca Lake, N.Y. — Five people from Tompkins County, including a 90-year-old woman, were arrested Monday for their role in a protest of a new gas storage facility near Seneca Lake.
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Fifteen people in total were arrested today, adding to the 10 charged with trespassing last week at the proposed facility of the Texas-based company — named Crestwood — in Schuyler County.
Protesters “have held blockades at the Crestwood gate” since Oct. 23, a day before the construction project was supposed to begin, according to protesters. (A report in the Corning Leader said, contrary to protesters’ claims, that construction wasn’t actually supposed to begin on Friday.)
Crestwood’s plans have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to The Ithaca Times.
The Finger Lakes Times explained further about Crestwood’s plans:
“Crestwood wants to store 5 million gallons of liquid butane and propane in the caves, displacing the brine water now in them. The brine would be pumped into a large brine pond and returned when the gas is removed.
But Crestwood has run into a bevy of opposition among local municipalities, wineries and environmental groups.
“The methane gas storage expansion project is advancing in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of the lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people,” a press release from the protesters said.
Local wineries, as well as the Yates and Tompkins county legislatures, have publicly opposed the project, according to multiple reports.
Those arrested today were:
— Lyn Gerry
— John Dennis (of Lansing)
— Mariah Plumlee
— Bob Henrie
— Laura Salamandra (of Enfield)
— Elan Shapiro (from Tompkins County)
— Lindsay Clark
— Darlene Bordwell
— Jodi Dean
— Ruth Young (former Schuyler County Legislator)
— Paul Passavant
— Stephanie Redmond
— Joanne Cipolla Dennis (of Dryden)
— Martha Ferger, 90 (of Dryden)
— Kenneth Fogarty, turning 75 today.