An anti-fracking protest blockaded traffic on the West Side Highway this afternoon to protest the Spectra Pipeline.
The action commenced at Gansevoort Pier, where activists staged a lock-down against Spectra last year, and marched to the West Side Highway. The fracktivists then deployed a yellow and purple banner stating “Radioactive Gas Shut Down This Highway,” and blocked traffic
The Spectra Pipeline was approved two weeks ago to tunnel beneath the West Village and Chelsea in Manhattan. The pipeline will push 800 million cubic feet of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale into the City via New Jersey through the Hudson River.
Locals are concerned that the City’s already crumbling and outdated infrastructure will be overloaded, along with the problems of construction,, development and renovation that are always shaking the streets of Manhattan. The pipeline could explode, residents fear, but it could also leach radon and other harmful chemicals into the ground.
Among other groups that participated in the protest, the Sane Energy Project has been outspoken against the pipeline, because among other reasons, the gas comes from the Marcellus Shale fields where people are being forced off their land as gas companies poison their water.
“As supplies of gas from other sources runs out, a larger and larger percentage of the gas supplied to NYC will come from Marcellus sources,” Sane Energy Project claim.
13 activists were arrested following today’s blockade, and 8 have been released thus far
