A fascinating and horrifying story in this morning's UK Guardian newspaper about anti-fracking activist Vera Scroggins.
Scroggins has spent the past five years in opposition to fracking in Susquehana County in northeastern Pennsylvania - the heart of the state's Marcellus Shale drilling industry.
She has visited frack sites – posting up to 500 videos on YouTube. She has called in health and environmental regulators at perceived violations, and she has organised bus tours of frack sites for anyone who is interested – from Yoko Ono and Susan Sarandon to visiting Canadian elected officials.
In October however, the major drilling company in the region, Cabot Energy, hauled Ms. Scroggins into court on just 72 hours notice (too little time for her to find a lawyer), produced 9 company employees and members of their private security firm and in short order had a court order from local judge Kenneth Seaman barring her from setting foot on any property owned or leased by Cabot in the county. What has ensued is a living nightmare for Ms. Scroggins. Nearly 40 percent of the county's lands are in Cabot control, but Ms. Scroggins has no map to guide her on where she can and can't go.
(She) is legally barred from the new county hospital. Also off-limits, unless Scroggins wants to risk fines and arrest, are the Chinese restaurant where she takes her grandchildren, the supermarkets and drug stores where she shops, the animal shelter where she adopted her Yorkshire terrier, bowling alley, recycling centre, golf club, and lake shore.
The temporary injunction granted on 21 October does not require Cabot to identify or map the lands where it holds drilling leases, putting Scroggins in the bizarre position of having to figure out for herself which areas were off-limits.
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....each trip Scroggins makes outside her home requires a calculation about whether her route will take her on lands or roads leased to Cabot, or a visit to the court house to pore over property records.
"We need a map. We need to know where I can and can not go," she said. "Can I stop here, or can I not stop here? Is it OK to be here if I go to a business or if I go to a home? I have had to ask and check out every person I go to: 'are you leased to Cabot'?"
The actions by Cabot are clearly designed to send a warning shot across the bow of anyone considering opposition to their drilling, but they seem like massive overkill in comparison to Ms. Scroggins actions over the years.
Cabot in court filings does not accuse Scroggins of violence or of causing harm to property, and she has never been arrested or charged with trespass. She has not chained herself to machinery, or staged sit-ins.
But Shepstone argued Scroggins had upset too many people to be tolerated. "I believe she is a public menace because what she does is she essentially trespasses not so much on property – though she does do that – but she trespasses on the soul of the community," he said. "She does not allow the people of this community any peace."
And truth be told, there are many in the county who support Cabot and for good reason....they are making lots of money in drilling royalties from the company and that is sufficient reason for them to ignore any immediate concerns about impacts to the environment.
Numerous observers with expertise in the law have called Cabot's action overreach and heavy handed. Ms. Scroggins is scheduled to get another hearing on the current injunction March 24th.