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 A five-month-old injunction prohibits Vera Scroggins, 63, of
Brackney, Pennsylvania, from setting foot onto 40 percent of
Susquehanna County that is leased by Cabot Oil and Gas.
At Monday's hearing in Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas in
Montrose, Pennsylvania, Scroggins and her lawyers from the
Pennsylvania ACLU and Public Citizen in Washington, D.C., will argue
that the injunction was legally flawed, unconstitutional, and set a
dangerous precedent by making much of the region where she lives off
limits.
Judge Kenneth Seamans, who issued the injunction in October at the
request of Cabot, will rule on the request.
"In the company's view, the right to extract gas also includes the
right to control the movements of an individual protesting the
company's activities," Scroggins said in court documents. "In short,
the right to extract gas is, according to the company, also the
right to banish."
Scroggins is known for recording anti-fracking video footage, some
of which was used in "Gasland," an Oscar-nominated documentary by
Josh Fox.
Fracking is the controversial process of injecting water, chemicals,
and sand into the underground shale formation to extract oil and
gas. It has brought about a gas boom in recent years in northeastern
Pennsylvania, but also concerns about its impact on the environment.
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According to Cabot, Scroggins engaged in at least 11 incidents of
trespassing to make her anti-fracking videos or lead tours, one of
which included the participation of celebrities Susan Sarandon, Yoko
Ono, and Sean Lennon.
Cabot spokesman George Stark said the company is open to a
modification of the injunction limiting it to actual gas facilities
and the roads leading to them.
"Cabot's primary concern is with operational sites where safety
issues are concerned," he said, adding that Cabot supports freedom
of expression.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg)
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