Protest group disables pumps at Chevron stations
Protest group disables pumps at Chevron stations
Four stations temporarily shut down on August 21, police investigating
By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun September 4, 2014
Police are investigating the disabling of 80 gas and diesel pumps at Chevron stations in Vancouver and Burnaby last month by a group protesting the company’s operations in Ecuador and planned pipeline in northern British Columbia.
“It’s under investigation,” said Vancouver police Const. Brian Montague of the incidents, one of which was posted in an anonymous anti-pipeline YouTube video after four stations were shut down Aug. 21. “They’re taking the handles off the pumps (in the video) and then putting them together and running a bicycle lock through them. There was no damage, but the (handles) were locked together.”
He said there have been no other reported incidents since then.
The three minute, 21-second video shows several individuals in dark clothing and orange vests, with masks covering their noses and mouths, removing hoses from fuel dispensers and then tying them together with chains and bike locks after placing them on the ground. Three people — including one jumping a fence — are then seen leaving the scene, one on a skateboard.
The video contains footage condemning Chevron’s alleged polluting practices in Ecuador’s Amazon region, as well as footage of a Unist’ot’en aboriginal protest of the construction of the Pacific Trail Pipeline, Chevron’s project to carry natural gas to its proposed LNG plant in Kitimat.
A release accompanying the YouTube video link took pride in the action, saying: “Early this morning, several grassroots groups of concerned friends, simultaneously shut down four Chevron gas stations across the Greater Vancouver Area. Using bike locks and chains the groups successfully locked up approximately 80 Chevron gas and diesel pumps. Service was suspended as a result.
“From Ecuador to the traditional territory of the Unist’ot’en clan, Chevron has a long history of invading Indigenous communities. They are also one of the world’s leading contributors to climate change.
More:
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Protest+group+disables+pumps+Chevron+stations/10175719/story.html
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