Breaking #fracking News... Occupy the Earth

Hello again!

The week of action against the pipeline is continuing strong, as Sam Jessup has scaled a tree on an active VT Gas work site to begin yet another indefinite delay. Sam, a timber frame carpenter and Montpelier resident, is the third person in the last ten weeks to have stopped construction through a tree top occupation. This time, he has tied the support line of his platform to machinery meant to blast open the hillside where Vermont Gas Systems plans to build the fracked gas pipeline.

Sam said that he took this action because he understands that the climate crisis is already deadly, and it's only getting worse. "Each passing month there are new records set for heat and drought across the planet, and with each passing year, fossil fuels kill five million more people. We simply can't afford to let this pipeline get built." [1]

His blockade begins just two days after dozens of pipeline protesters delayed work for 8 hours at three different construction sites on Monday, ending in five arrests. [2]

This movement is growing, and it needs all of us. If you can support Sam by coming out to Monkton today or throughout the week, call us at 831-535-2261. If you can’t make it in person, but would like to support financially, please donate to the action fund.

With inspiration,

Molly for Rising Tide VT

1) Sam was referring to a 2012 study by the research group DARA International: http://daraint.org/climate-vulnerability-monitor/climate-vulnerability-monitor-2012/report/

2) http://www.wptz.com/news/5-protesters-arrested-at-pipeline-construction-spots/39926412

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Rising Tide Vermont

risingtidevermont.org

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/QKouYY

Twitter: @RisingtideVT

Mary Gerdt's notes: blasting ledges 

About Monkton's Geologic Resources:

• Monkton, Vermont - the Chapin Marble Prospect (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The same dolomite marbles crop out between the two quarries last described, on the farm of L. O. Chapin, of Bristol, Vt. ”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Columbian Marble Co.’s Monkton Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The Monkton quarry of the Columbian Marble Co. is 0.6 mile S. 32° W. of the Vermont Marble Co.’s quarry, on the south side of the east-west crossroads in the same township. The opening is about 20 feet square and 5 to 10 feet deep and has been long disused.

  “The marble is identical with that of the Vermont Marble Co.’s quarry. The weathered parts have a muddy gray color. The beds strike north, dip 45° E., and show many minor fractures along the bedding.”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Jimmo Marble Prospect (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The Jimmo prospect is in Bristol Township 1 ¼ miles west-southwest of the Bristol bench mark. (See map of Middlebury quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) Owner, Harry Jimmo, Bristol, Vt.

  “The marble (specimen D, XXXI, 67, a) is a quartzose hematitic dolomite marble of deep-pink color, differing from that of the Monkton quarries and prospects by its less conspicuous mottling and deeper shade. It has films of sericite. The thickness exposed is 8 feet.”

• Monkton, Vermont - the Vermont Marble Co.’s Monkton Marble Quarry (from Commercial Marbles of Western Vermont, Bulletin 521, by T. Nelson Dale, United States Geological Survey, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1912.)

  “The dolomite of Monkton has been described on page 45. It belongs apparently to the dolomite which underlies the calcite marbles. The only quarry operated in recent years was idle in 1910.

  “The dolomite of Monkton has been described on page 45. It belongs apparently to the dolomite which underlies the calcite marbles. The only quarry operated in recent years was idle in 1910.

  The Monkton quarry of the Vermont Marble Co. is at the west foot of the so-called Hogback Mountains, really the west flank of the Green Mountain range, about 1 ½ miles north-northeast of East Monkton and 6 miles N. 10° W. of Bristol, in Monkton Township, Addison County. (See map of Middlebury quadrangle, U. S. Geol. Survey.) The opening is 30 by 15 feet and 5 feet deep. The quarry is not now used, the company having withdrawn the marble from the market.

  “The beds exposed consist of about 270 feet of dolomite. The marble, “Ruvaro” (specimens D, XXXI, 63, a fresh; d, weathered), is a mottled pink and white quartzose hematitic dolomite marble. It contains thin beds of sericite and quartz (specimens D, XXXI, 63, b, c). Descriptions of these will be found on page 45.

  “The dolomite strikes N. 25° -30° W., dips 30° -40° W., and is crossed by slip cleavage dipping 40° E. and in places by close east-west joints dipping steeply to the north. About 315 feet east of the dolomite is an outcrop of quartzite, slightly calcareous in places, striking N. 15° W. and dipping at a steep angle to the west, crossed by cleavage dipping 60° E. A little farther south, at the head of a brook flowing southward, dolomite and quartzite are in contact, both rocks for the depth of a foot dipping steeply to the east, whether by faulting or minor overturned folding is not evident.

  “This marble was polished by the company and sold for decorative use.”

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