Before the arrest, obstruction charges, the impoundment of her 1971 Ford Pinto without an engine, news stories about her stand against Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and calls from reporters asking why, Becky Crabtree prepared for the day in the predawn morning of Tuesday, July 31.
“It was still dark,” said Crabtree. “It was surreal. There were lightning bugs, moonlight coming through the trees at the edge of the field. There were three huge oak trees very near where I was, and the wind was blowing branches and the moon was shining through the leaves. It was just about the most beautiful feeling I’ve ever had. I was at peace. Of course, I hadn’t slept that night, I might have been giddy cause I needed sleep.”
Crabtree, a 64-year-old retired teacher, grandmother, author, and resident of Monroe County blocked construction of MVP with her now engineless Pinto, elevated off the ground on wood blocks and held in place with straps, for several hours before being removed from the vehicle by police.
MVP construction, Crabtree explained, is currently located on a section of pipeline easement she hoped both current and future family would call home. Purchased years before, Crabtree’s family retained a property in Monroe County while teaching in Guam and Alaska. After returning home, the Crabtrees purchased more land to create more space for a farm and the growing family.
“When we got back, we wanted to expand our farm, we had about five point something acres and a big farm house, but we wanted to be able to have a retirement farm and livestock,” Crabtree said. “Land [that is available] is rare on Peters Mountain, but we had an across-the-road neighbor that needed to sell some land. We bought 25 acres from him. That’s the acreage that the pipeline is passing through. It hasn’t been in our family for generations, we’ve had it for maybe four years. Most of it is a huge canyon, but in order to get two nice home sites up in fields, we had to buy the whole thing. Of course, the best home site, that we had hoped our daughter would come and build her house [on], and she was planning on doing that, is where the pipeline comes through. It’s kind of devastating. It’s not like it was family heritage, but it was going to be.”
The property is located a few miles from the former location of several tree stands blocking construction of the MVP, including that of “Deckard,” an anonymous man who, originally joined by several additional protesters, blocked construction for 95 days by sitting in an aerial tree camp, blocking MVP’s ability to log in the area. In Virginia, multiple blockades and citizens locking themselves to construction equipment have led to arrests and charges.
“Six months ago, I would not have had the courage to do this, but other women sat in trees and other people tried to help people sitting in trees, there have been half a dozen arrests, and I watched that,” Crabtree explained. “They’re just people. They’re just humans. I’m a human, I can do something. … We have the power if we just let ourselves have the power. I hope that there are people out there that may do something because I did something. As they say, the fire is spreading, and that’s the fire of resistance to this foolishness.”
Crabtree’s land was condemned through eminent domain after the family refused to sell to MVP. Eminent domain is a process by which a state or federal government takes private property for public use, so long that the owner is paid a fair market value for property, a process enshrined in the United States Constitution, unable to be changed in the West Virginia Legislature.
“We refused the offer that they made, then of course it went to court and the judge awarded it [to MVP],” Crabtree said. “I like to say it was stolen, but at any rate, we haven’t received compensation at all. Evidently there’s going to be a court date where we talk to a judge about what it’s worth, try to negotiate a price, and I spoke to our lawyer … and I told him that I can’t do that yet, I’m at the point where I don’t want their filthy money, I want the land.”
The case, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. An Easement to Construct, Operate and Maintain a 42-Inch Gas Transmission Line Across Properties in the Counties of Nicholas, Greenbrier, Monroe, and Summers, West Virginia et al, has been filed in United States District Court, the Southern District of West Virginia and includes approximately 250 defendants State Senator Stephen Baldwin has previously spoken out against use of eminent domain for land seizures for private use by a company, rather than the intended use of facilitating “public good,” such as the construction of a school.
“We were present in District Court when the judge took it under consideration and we felt like we had a shot,” Crabtree said. “Because the interpretation of eminent domain has changed, probably, from what the writers of it intended, [but we lost]. This is not for public good.”
Once police arrived, Crabtree was surprised with how quickly they were able to get into the car, which had been bolted and welded shut. She had placed her hand in a lockbox chained and welded to the frame, but was never worried about her safety.
“I had taught one of the deputies in second grade many years ago,” Crabtree said. “I had worked with another one of the deputies in a school where he was the school officer. I knew they weren’t going to hurt me. Some people were concerned about being treated roughly, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen on my own land. I just felt like the values of Monroe County weren’t going to let me get hurt on my own land.”
The car itself was her first car, which appeared in her wedding album and took her on her honeymoon, and was adorned with “when grandma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” and the rallying cries of people against the ongoing pipeline construction, including “power to the people” and “the fire is spreading.” Crabtree explained that the car gave her one of her first senses of freedom and choice.
“I was 17 and the moment I realized that the roads don’t ever close. I could go anywhere at any time. That was probably one of the most freeing realizations I’ve ever had. … Little steps to maturity I guess. I’ve had another one now; I have power. … I was a college sophomore and I could go anywhere because I had that car. And now it’s taken me somewhere else, I guess.”
Now impounded, despite its lack of engine, Crabtree laughs as she talks about the car’s new life as a symbol of speaking out against the pipeline.
According to Crabtree, she was charged with obstruction of a police officer and has 20 days to decide if she wants to move forward with a jury trial. Despite this, Crabtree says she doesn’t regret anything and is prepared to continue speaking out against MVP.
“I’m giving a presentation to my church circle on Wednesday,” Crabtree said. “If a pipeline doesn’t come close to you, you probably don’t have time to care about it. But now that this pipeline [goes] right by the Lindside Methodist Church, they’re blasting, people are starting to notice. Facts get muddled when there’s controversy, and I’m going to give them my version. I’m not going to quit.”
Read more in the Friday, August 3, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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