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Protesters gathered at the Watkins Glen State Park, chanting at passing traffic, before returning to their starting point at Seneca Harbor Park.

Protesters march in Watkins against LPG storage, fracking

Dem candidate Shinagawa stirs crowd with pro-environment speech

WATKINS GLEN, August 18 -- More than 200 protesters took to the sidewalks of Watkins Glen Friday afternoon to sound off against the proposed storage of liquefied petroleum gas in salt caverns in the Town of Reading and against hydrofracking.

The protesters gathered at Seneca Harbor Park, and after hearing from a few speakers, marched through the Village Marina parking lot and over to Lafayette Park, chanting slogans. They passed through the park at an angle to the corner of Fourth and Decatur Streets, marched west on Fourth to Franklin, and down Franklin to the Watkins Glen State Park, crossing the street -- and holding up traffic -- a block short of the park entrance.

About half of them wandered into the State Park's parking area, but according to one witness, a park official told the demonstrators that they had to move back to the sidewalk, which they soon did. After chanting slogans for several minutes to passing motorists -- some of whom honked in seeming approval -- the marchers moved north on Franklin, crossing at First Street and regrouping at Seneca Harbor Park.

There, more speeches awaited, along with some anti-fracking songs sung by guitarist Jennifer Cherelin of Rochester. Then came a speech by Nate Shinagawa of Ithaca, the Democratic candidate for Congress from the newly formed 23rd Congressional District. He is running against incumbent Republican Tom Reed of Corning.

Shinagawa participated in Friday's march but did not carry a sign. "I didn't want to co-opt them," he said, adding that he was present "to show I stand with the people here trying to protect the environment" and that the proposed LPG storage means "more heavy industry that isn't wanted."

In his address to the crowd after the march, he climbed atop a picnic table, microphone in hand, to enthusiastic applause.

"I'm glad to see all of you out here," he said. "This shows it isn't a moment, it's a movement. We need people-powered movements if we are to make real change happen. The people in power aren't listening to you, and industry isn't listening to you. They want you to quiet down. But when you do quiet down, you are standing down. When it comes to the environment, we cannot stand down."

Then he recalled his activist days while a student at Cornell University, and in particular a well-known chant created by Canadian singer-activist Sara Marlowe that the crowd picked up on, repeating loudly several times: "Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop."

Other speakers included Jane Winters of the Town of Reading, who criticized officials at Inergy, the company that purchased U.S. Salt and plans the LPG storage and an accompanying brine pond alongside Rt. 14 north of Watkins Glen. She said company claims that the storage is merely an extension of a decades-old practice "is disingenuous ... This is not your father's propane storage."

She also linked the storage to hydrofracking, which has come under attack after widespread stories of mishaps in Pennsylvania and transportation problems wherever it has been undertaken. "Just because (Inergy) doesn't drill in the Marcellus Shale," she said, "doesn't mean it isn't part of the shale industry," with plans to store gas obtained from such drilling.

While U.S. Salt has "a history of being a good neighbor," Winters added, "Inergy has no such history."

Lou Damiani of Damiani Wine Cellars outside Burdett told the crowd that the Finger Lakes "is considered one of the top lake tourist spots in the world," with "a $3 billion renewable and sustainable" income from wineries, bed-and-breakfasts, hunting, fishing, and other businesses. All of that is endangered, he said, by the "vision of officials" who installed "a large dump at the north end of Seneca that is leeching into the lake," and plan "the largest gas storage facility in the Northeast on the southern end of the lake."

"If they get this, it is only the beginning," he said. "They will go for more, including storing fracking fluid, because they need a place to put it." This constitutes "overwhelming hubris and a disregard for the people" who populate the lake.

His concluding message to Inergy: "We're not going away. We were here before you, and we will be here after you. We will fight you ... every step of the way."

Also speaking: Sandra Steingraber, an acclaimed ecologist and author from Trumansburg. She said the entire Southern Tier is endangered by such proposals as LPG storage and fracking: "What happens over (in Trumansburg) happens here ... I'm not going to stand by and let this community be turned into a toxic dump."

Spike Jones of Allegany County -- who participated in the movement there 20 years ago against nuclear power -- said "the people of New York State pushed the nuclear power industry back to the drawing board" in that movement, "and we can push this back, too."

The march itself went off with no overt incidents. One village police vehicle cruised past the group at the State Park, it's driver merely smiling as he passed by. The crowd was almost constantly chanting, taking up cries such as "Stand Up ... Get Organized, No LPG, No Compromise," "New York, Don't Frack!" and "Gas No, Water Yes."

After the march and the last of the speeches, one organizer recited A Pledge To Resist Fracking. Scores of protesters lifted right arms in the air, fists symbolically clenched, as he read that fracking "cannot be properly resolved, nor can it be mitigated through regulation by any government agency, let alone one that has colluded with the gas industry over the last four years in creating rules that attempt to regulate fracking ... If Governor Cuomo permits high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracking in any part of New York State, I pledge to join with others to engage in non-violent acts of protest, including demonstrations ... I make this pledge in order to prevent the destruction and poisoning of New York's water, air and food systems, on which life, health and economic prosperity all depend."

Next up: a gathering of protesters in Albany and New York City on Aug. 25-27.

Photos in text:

Top: Protesters march on a sidewalk along Franklin Street.

Second: Congressional candidate Nate Shinagawa of Ithaca addresses the crowd.

Third: Sherry Collins of Allegany County with her homemade sign.

Fourth: Lou Damiani presents a speech.

Fifth: Fists go up as a A Pledge to Resist Fracking is read.

Left: Singer Jennifer Cherelin. Right: Speaker Spike Jones of Allegany County.

Marchers head north on Franklin Street, back toward Seneca Harbor Park.

 

© The Odessa File 2012
Charles Haeffner
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Odessa, New York 14869

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