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 The defendants and their supporters, who first confronted chainsaw
crews on Feb. 10, face arrest if they again interfere, U.S. District
Court Judge Malachy Mannion in Scranton warned earlier this week.
The $875 million Continental Pipeline, due to be operational this
autumn, would run 124 miles (200 km) from Montrose, Pennsylvania, to
Albany, New York, and bring gas from Pennsylvania fracking wells to
the New York and New England markets.
“We’re trying to keep them from cutting trees before they have all
the permits they need to build in New York state,” said Megan
Holleran, spokeswoman for North Harford Maple, a family-run syrup
business in New Milford, Pennsylvania.
Christopher Stockton, a Constitution spokesman, acknowledged the
company does not have all the permits needed to finish the New York
portion of the pipeline but said it expected to receive them.
 “All the pipe is in New York waiting,” he said. “The crews are hired
and mobilized and ready to go.”
Family members and their supporters in recent weeks have stood in
the proposed right-of-way to prevent cutting of the trees.
The protesters include co-owners Catherine Holleran, Michael Zeffer,
Maryann Zeffer, and Patricia Glover, all siblings, and Dustin
Webster, their nephew.
Protests against fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, to extract gas
from subterranean shale rock formations have grown across the state,
where the industry has flourished in recent years.
In Pennsylvania's Susquehanna County, home of North Harford Maple,
Cabot has frequently tangled with anti-fracking activists, who say
the process can pollute water, create noise and trigger earthquakes.
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The 120-foot (37-m) wide pipeline right-of-way would force the
felling of up to 200 maples, or about 80 percent of the trees.
At this point, the family is more concerned with getting paid what
it considers a fair value for the land, rather than stopping the
pipeline outright.
“We want to be fairly compensated,” she said.
Houston-based Constitution Pipeline Co requested the hearing because
it faces a March 31 deadline for tree- cutting imposed by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to protect the endangered
Northern Long-Eared Bat and certain migratory bird species,
according to court papers.
If the deadline passes, FERC rules would force the Houston-based
joint venture, which involves involving Cabot Oil & Gas Corp,
Williams Cos and other partners, to delay the work until autumn at
the earliest.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Marguerita Choy)
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