Mothers against the Potomac Pipeline arrested at MD State House

Video compilation from CCAN's and Katherine Brzozowsk's Twitter clips

On the 14th of March, Mothers against the Potomac Pipeline blocked one of the MD State House doorways and the blockaders were arrested. This was just days before Governor Hogan is expected to make a decision about whether or not to permit the Potomac Pipeline to proceed.

The Potomac Pipeline is called the Eastern Panhandle Extension by proposing builder Transcanada. This is the same company that is responsible for the spill-plagued existing sections of the Keystone and Keystone XL southern leg tar sands pipeline. Not a single cubic foot of gas from this pipeline would be available to users in Maryland, as its purpose is to connect the fracking gaslands of Penn to industries that do not now exist in W Va. MD (and DC) would still be placed at risk for contamination of the Potomac River during construction, and MD will also face the risk of pipeline explosion if this pipeline goes into service. This is like being exposed to the risk of having your house blown up by your neighbor's leaky gas pipe without being allowed to use any of the gas to heat your own house-the worst of both worlds.

Beyond the risks of the pipeline itself, if the proposed use of the pipeline ever materializes it would accelerate fracking in Penn, thus exposing MD, VA, and DC to downsteam risks of water contamination from any new bad frack jobs. Some fracked wells make no trouble, while others leak fracking fluid or heavy metal laden deep groundwater into higher aquifers used for water wells, or even to surface water. This is often caused by "communication" where the cracks made by fracking connect to existing faults and fractures in the rock. Another issue is well casings that can fracture from the pressure of the fracking process.