Afton anti-fracking activist arrested in Albany
AFTON – Anti-fracking activist Abram Loeb was arraigned Monday in Albany Criminal Court on disorderly conduct charges stemming from a May 15 arrest during a civil disobedience action in the governor’s office in the Capitol building.
The Afton native, who represented himself, said the charges were not dismissed, but could be later.
“It’s not an issue for me,” he said on Wednesday, describing his action as “peaceful.” Loeb was similary arrested 22 years ago for blocking a New York State commission of delegates from walking onto land in nearby Taylor in Cortland County to inspect it for the possible siting of a low level radioactive waste dump. A photo of him during that incident appeared in the New York Times in 1989.
Frack Free Nation, Inc., an organization Loeb founded, gathered approximately 50 people in the vestibule of the Governor’s office to participate and observe a theatrical action titled, “The choice is Clear: The Gifts of a Healthy New York versus the Fracking Consequences.” A smaller group offered Cuomo a basket of sustainable produce from Frog Ponds Farmstand in Bainbridge and then “died” to the floor after making the motions of drinking frack fluid.
Loeb said the group was responding to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reluctance to withdraw the state’s revised environmental conservation regulations for hydraulic fracturing. The new rules are still in draft form, but could be released this year after four years of review and public comment.
“We wanted to demonstrate to Cuomo that his choice is between life and death,” Loeb said.
Loeb said people are dying from chemicals in the frack fluids that have migrated into drinking water, from onsite drilling accidents and from the radioactive fluids in formation water that has been sprayed on people’s roads, even from vertically drilled wells.
“The impacts upon public health have not been studied which is a glaring omission in the decision-making process considering the toxicity of the materials used and extracted in the mining process,” he wrote in a press release following his arrest.
The Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate, Colia Clark, sang late Civil Rights Movement songs during the action. During the era, Clark was a special assistant to Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP. She is up against the incumbent, Hon. Kirsten E. Gillibrand.
The Afton native, who represented himself, said the charges were not dismissed, but could be later.
“It’s not an issue for me,” he said on Wednesday, describing his action as “peaceful.” Loeb was similary arrested 22 years ago for blocking a New York State commission of delegates from walking onto land in nearby Taylor in Cortland County to inspect it for the possible siting of a low level radioactive waste dump. A photo of him during that incident appeared in the New York Times in 1989.
Frack Free Nation, Inc., an organization Loeb founded, gathered approximately 50 people in the vestibule of the Governor’s office to participate and observe a theatrical action titled, “The choice is Clear: The Gifts of a Healthy New York versus the Fracking Consequences.” A smaller group offered Cuomo a basket of sustainable produce from Frog Ponds Farmstand in Bainbridge and then “died” to the floor after making the motions of drinking frack fluid.
Loeb said the group was responding to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reluctance to withdraw the state’s revised environmental conservation regulations for hydraulic fracturing. The new rules are still in draft form, but could be released this year after four years of review and public comment.
“We wanted to demonstrate to Cuomo that his choice is between life and death,” Loeb said.
Loeb said people are dying from chemicals in the frack fluids that have migrated into drinking water, from onsite drilling accidents and from the radioactive fluids in formation water that has been sprayed on people’s roads, even from vertically drilled wells.
“The impacts upon public health have not been studied which is a glaring omission in the decision-making process considering the toxicity of the materials used and extracted in the mining process,” he wrote in a press release following his arrest.
The Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate, Colia Clark, sang late Civil Rights Movement songs during the action. During the era, Clark was a special assistant to Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP. She is up against the incumbent, Hon. Kirsten E. Gillibrand.
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