Ithaca College

On Wednesday, April 18, Sandra Steingraber, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Environmental Studies and Science, was found guilty of trespassing at a site owned by Inergy, a natural gas and liquid petroleum storage company in Watkins Glen.  The Inergy facility is part of the infrastructure planned to support the expansion of the hydraulic fracturing industry in the Finger Lakes region.   Sandra was sentenced immediately to 15 days in the Chemung County jail, when she refused to pay the fine the judge had imposed. 

At the time of her arrest with 11 others for blockading the entrance to Inergy, Sandra stated “It is wrong to bury explosive, toxic petroleum gases in underground chambers next to a source of drinking water for 100,000 people. It is wrong to build out the infrastructure for fracking at a time of climate emergency. It is right for me come to the shores of Seneca Lake, where my 11-year-old son was born, and say, with my voice and with my body, as a mother and biologist, that this facility is a threat to life and health.”

For extensive coverage of the trial in the Reading Town Court and the sentencing of Sandra Steingraber and two other protesters, see:  http://www.odessafile.com/people-ProtestersJail.htm