Jim Willis
Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)

Fractivist bullying seems to be the order of the day but, fortunately, some are learning to stand up to these intimidation tactics and say enough already.

The demands of anti-drillers in Lebanon County, PA are illustrative of their true motivations. Two different anti groups – Lebanon Pipeline Awareness and Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County – are demanding Lebanon County commissioners have an open public meeting with two pipeline companies. The two pipeline companies are Williams (Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline) and Sunoco Logistics Partners (Mariner East 1 & 2 pipelines). Revealing their real objectives, these frantic and frenzied fractivists have said that If the meeting is not open and public, so they can pummel representatives of the companies in public and have it broadcast everywhere – they want no meeting at all.

Williams and Sunoco had agreed to non-public meetings that include members of these two groups – to answer their questions. But the pipeline companies, and the county commissioners, don’t want a circus. That means no cameras/media, and the meeting is not open so it can be packed by large numbers of antis putting on a show for the cameras.

The companies are willing to sit down and talk like adults and answer questions and address concerns – also like adults. But, that’s not what Lebanon Pipeline Awareness nor Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County really want. They want to behave like petulant children throwing a temper tantrum for everyone to witness. Instead of taking the private meeting, they (the antis) want no meeting at all. Here’s the evidence, from the Lebanon Daily News (emphasis added):

Several months ago, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness members asked the commissioners to request public meetings with Sunoco Logisitics and Williams Partners, which are both subsidiaries of Energy Transfer Equity.

Sunoco is retrofitting its existing 350-mile Mariner East 1 Pipeline and adding at least one parallel pipeline to carry natural gas products from the Marcellus Shale gas region of the state through parts of Lebanon County to its distribution point near Philadelphia.

Williams Partners is seeking permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build the 183-mile Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, which also would carry natural gas products through parts of the county to its distribution points on the East Coast.

Both companies agreed to the meetings but with conditions. Namely, that the media would not be welcome, and that instead of a public meeting, it would include only the commissioners, relevant county department heads and a select number of representatives from Lebanon Pipeline Awareness and Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County, another pipeline opponent.

In October, the commissioners agreed to accept those conditions and began making arrangements to set dates for the meetings.

On Thursday, Michael Schroeder and Ann Pinca of Lebanon Pipeline Awareness told the commissioners they had reservations about moving forward with the meeting under the conditions set by the pipeline companies…

The commissioners suggested asking the companies to include the media or, in the alternative, to hold a press briefing after the meeting…

“We certainly don’t have some weapon that we can tell these two pipeline companies they have to have an open public meeting,” Ames said. “I think, in all honesty, you folks are looking for an opportunity to challenge these folks at a public meeting and so on. You’ve had some of those along the way. I’m not sure it is our obligation to create another venue where that can happen.”

…Ames suggested the group could prepare pertinent landowners’ questions ahead of the private meeting.

“They would answer those questions and they would become part of the public record without the shouting match, the theatrics of the whole thing, which I think would be wonderful,” he said…

Commissioner Bob Phillips reiterated that the pipeline companies have no obligation to hold a public meeting, put the meeting on pubic record, or meet any demands made by the commissioners.

“I’m just saying if we go the path of, ‘Here’s what we require in order to have a meeting,’ and they say no, then we are saying there is no meeting. And I think that is worse than having a restricted meeting,” he said.

Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz agreed, stating she felt the county should go forward with meeting company representatives for the benefit of directors in departments like the Emergency Management Agency, Tax Assessment and Geographical Information Systems.

But the anti-pipeline group was adamant that it was an open meeting or no meeting at all.

“That is our position,” Schroeder said. “Unless this is a genuinely public event, either with the press present or the public-at-large, then the restrictions are too onerous.”

…Ultimately, Phillips said, that would be counter-productive to Lebanon Pipeline Awareness’ goal of providing information about the pipeline projects to the public.

“I just don’t see what the gain is,” he said. “If you get 60 percent of what you want in something, that sometimes is better than 100 percent of nothing.”*

These antis are not serious people and should not be taken seriously. They’re childish and it’s time to stop coddling them like 3-year old brats. Enough fractivist bullying already!

Editor’s Note: Amen to Jim’s final observation! What the commissioners fail to grasp in this case, though, is this; the antis aren’t at all interested in “providing information about the pipeline projects to the public.” They have zero interest in that and want only the opportunity to engage in theatrics, to create some news and build a public impression of momentum on their side. Therefore, no media present meant getting 0 percent of what they wanted.

Which is why Maya van Rossum of the Delaware Riverkeeper and her William Penn Foundation allies from the Clean Air Council tried this little maneuver with John Quigley (their erstwhile ally at PennFuture) and had the cameras there to record it, of course:

This brings us to the bigger point, of course, which is that fractivist bullying succeeds when the bullied honor, or are misled to believe in, the good intentions of the ones doing the bullying. Bullies tend not to be characterized by good intentions. Politicians often choose to ignore that fact – it’s easier that way – but stopping the bullying means calling it out for what it is and we need a whole lot more of that.

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