A Virginia State Police trooper arrested a protestor against the Mountain Valley Pipeline Wednesday morning on Yellow Finch Road.
Pipeline protestors hold signs at the site of the protest that led to the arrest of one of the protestors.
Heather Bell
editor@ourvalley.org
ELLISTON – A protestor was arrested in Elliston Wednesday morning for attempting to block access to the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction area.
According to Virginia State Police Sgt. Ruchard Garletts, VSP troopers “were called to remove an individual which was blocking pipeline access on Yellow Finch Road this morning (Wednesday, May 30). State Police responded at 6:21 a.m. for a protestor suspended on a tripod in the roadway.”
Elsa McLaughlin Schlensker, 25, of Cleveland, Ohio, was arrested at the scene.
“Schlensker was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Montgomery County jail and charged with obstructing the free passage of another,” said Garletts.
Appalachians Against Pipelines (AAP), an organization fighting against the pipeline, also released information about the arrest.
“Early Wednesday morning, pipeline fighter August (Schlensker) suspended themself in a tripod blockade on Yellow Finch Lane in Montgomery County, blocking Mountain Valley Pipeline’s construction access to Poor Mountain,” AAP stated. “A rally of supporters gathered on site throughout the morning until Virginia State Police responded with a militarized, armored skid steer to remove August from their blockade. Banners and signs at the protest read, “Until all are free,” “Water is precious,” and “Doom to MVP!” After over 4.5 hours of blocking the road, August was extracted and arrested.”
“Recent years have seen an alarming increase in the incidence of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other illness in our communities,” said August. “This trend is even more profound in communities around refineries, factories, and pipelines. It is not an abstract risk. As a survivor of environmentally-implicated thyroid cancer, I feel this very deeply and seriously. Everywhere I look I see resilience, but we are tired of having to be resilient.
“Anything we do against this machinery of devastation is an act of self-defense. It is an act of survival; an act of hope that despite the actions of the rich and powerful, we might be able to save a future worth living for. Every time we block or defeat or shut down a part of this machinery, it is to make room for what we are dreaming and what we are already building. Every moment we slow pipeline progress is a portal—we get to decide what it looks like on the other side.
“My risk today is part of an ecosystem that has nurtured me to be this strong.”
According to AAP, Yellow Finch Lane is the site where two tree sits protected the last standing trees along the pipeline’s 303-mile route for over 900 days from 2018-2021. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 42-inch diameter gas pipeline slated to cross at least 300 miles of Appalachia. In June 2023, Congress passed a law to fast track the MVP.