In the spring of 2013, strangers began to appear along the roads of rural Kentucky's outer Bluegrass counties. They were asking to come onto people's land to do a survey for a pipeline that would be coming through. Within a few weeks, as more people began to investigate, it became clear that this would be a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) pipeline to carry the viscous, volatile and toxic remains of fracking from the fields of Pennsylvania through Ohio and Kentucky and then onto the Gulf Coast. I became a participant observer of the grassroots resistance that emerged and gained national attention. This paper will: Document the emergence and growth of the pipeline opposition and its use of social media; and Analyze the framing of the debate about the pipeline through the resistance themes used by the opposition and the ways in which the pipeline builders reacted to this "surprising revolt." "The Google Group" provided the on-line support network for opponents of the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, in addition to tracking every move the company made and every word they said in the 13 affected counties. Two web sites provided both breadth and depth of documentation and research on the hazards of NGLs, the poor safety record of the company, and the rights of individual property owners to resist the pipeline company. In addition, these sites documented the progress in the acquisition of easements by the company and mapped the shifting geography of the proposed route.

1. Bluegrass Defiance: The
emergence and growth of a
grassroots resistance
movement
Lori Garkovich
Dept. of Community and Leadership Development
University of Kentucky

2. Introduction
• In the spring (March/April) of 2013, strangers began to appear along the
roads of Kentucky’s Bluegrass counties.
• They were asking to come onto people’s land to do a survey for a “pipeline”
that would be coming through the area.
• Gradually a cadre of local people came together to inform themselves and
others about what this Bluegrass Pipeline was about.
• They came from all walks of life -- farmers, teachers, professors, state
government workers, attorneys, retirees -- and were all ages -- from middle
and high school students to those 70 and older.
• What bound them together was the intense desire to protect their land,
homes, community and sense of identity.

3. Organizing the opposition
It began with neighbors talking to neighbors
• Formation of informal action groups in each county
• Establishment of the “google-group”(over 3,000
messages to date)
• Research and preparation of informational materials
• Creation of web sites, Facebook pages, blogs
• Organizing protests and developing speaking points for
people with different backgrounds and interests to use in
letters to the editor or presentations (e.g., for a farmer an
emphasis on karst and impacts on farming for a
luncheon)
• Mobilizing new supporters

4. The proposed Bluegrass pipeline would transport
natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Marcellus and
Utica shale producing areas in Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Ohio to the expanding
petrochemical and export complex on the
U.S. Gulf Coast.

5. What are NGLs?
• This is NOT a natural gas pipeline. Natural gas
liquids include ethane, propane, butane, pentane,
hexane, heptane, benzene and other hazardous
chemicals. NGLs become an odorless and colorless
vapor once they hit the air.
• NGLs are extracted from the natural gas production
stream in natural gas processing plants.
• As the price of natural gas declines, the profitability
of fracking depends on being able to sell NGLs

6. Proposed initial path of the Bluegrass Pipeline
Initially, the pipeline would cross the Ohio
River in Brackin County and travel through
13 counties. It would cross the Kentucky
River several times and make 750 other
river and stream crossings.
In Breckinridge County, the
pipeline would connect to
an existing natural gas
pipeline and carry the NGLs
to processing facilities in
the gulf.

7. Expanded area of proposed Bluegrass Pipeline in light of growing
opposition
As opposition grew, the proposed path
grew to potentially include 18 counties
in Kentucky

8. The opposition’s framing of the issues
• The Williams Company assertion that if property
owners did not want to sign an easement, they
would exercise “eminent domain” and seize the land
for the pipeline.
• The potential dangers of a leak in the “high intensity
Karst regions” of Kentucky.
• The violation of the “holy land” of Kentucky, a critical
component of the meaning of the landscape
• The safety record of the companies
• The relationship between NGLs and fracking.

9. The threat of eminent domain mobilized
hundreds of persons who had never
protested anything in their lives.
•“This has a lot of drama baked in – an active grassroots
opposition against a mega-corporation from out of state,”
said Sellus Wilder, a Frankfort, Ky., farm owner and line
opponent. “People are more possessive of their land around
here. That’s bred into our bones. The idea of somebody
coming in and throwing their weight around on our land
really pisses people off.”

10. https://
www.facebook.com/BGP
Joined Facebook
June 19, 2013
Eminent Domain and
Private Property Rights

12. Survey
Ribbon
Natural spring
for livestock
Despite declaring that the pipeline would not endanger natural
areas, survey flags were found in sensitive Karst areas.

13. Survey
Ribbon
Opening to
Underground
stream
Survey flag near opening to an underground stream
Under karst conditions, contamination from a hazardous waste source can be
expected to travel in ground water rapidly and erratically and with less dilution
than in most other aquifer conditions. Because of this, sites overlying karst may
pose a greater threat to human health and the environment.

14. Spirited Spat: Pipeline Battle Rages on
Kentucky's 'Holy Land'
• Corn-speckled lands owned by a group of Catholic
Trappist monks and a convent full of nuns have become
a battleground in a fight between Big Energy and the
"singing sisters."
• Elizabethtown Williams meeting
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHjT_eXsU94
• Herald Leader video
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znOfOtCFWSA
• Abbey of Gethsemini resists
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPDOJlKy8ZU

15. "Having a pipeline is going to impact the safety and water of the people,“ Sister Teresa
Kotturan said.
"Knowing a pipeline is coming through, is like waiving a red flag to the creatures of the
Earth. God created Earth as our land to use not abuse," Sister Venneman said.
“We believe our land is sacred and it should be protected,” said Sister Elicia Ramsey.
A band of women later broke into a chorus of “Amazing Grace” in the middle of
Pritchard Community Center, which was followed by a chant advocating stewardship of
land they felt was provided by God and denouncing the pipeline.

16. There seems to be great interest in the fact that the Sisters of Loretto and the
Monks of Gethsemani, with their large land holdings, are strongly opposed to the
pipeline and are actively working to prevent it from coming to Kentucky. The stance
of both communities to care for the land as a sacred trust from God readily
connects with local landowners who have also lived on their land for generations
and feel their families’ deep roots and connections to the land.
Three counties long known as the Holy Lands of Kentucky, are among nineteen
counties targeted for a natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline running from fracking
operations in Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast where most of it will be exported for
making plastic. Those counties are home to three religious communities as well
as the Abbey of Gethsemani.

17. On Tuesday, about 50 religious protesters, including nuns from the Sisters of Loretto and
members of Kentucky Baptist, Presbyterian and Unitarian churches traveled to the Kentucky
capitol to deliver a 36,250-signature petition against the Bluegrass Pipeline to Gov. Steve
Beshear’s office. The religious leaders used Biblical imagery to speak out against the pipeline
— a project that David Whitlock, pastor of Lebanon Baptist Church said would mar God’s land.
“I am here because I believe, as the Psalms express, that the whole Earth is full of the
steadfast love of God,” Susan Classen, co-member of the Sisters of Loretto said Tuesday. “It
matters how we treat the Earth, the land, the water and all inhabitants of the Earth.”
Nuns Hold Anti-Pipeline
Protest At The Kentucky State Capitol
by Katie Valentine Posted on November
6, 2013 at 2:58 pm

18. What’s Wrong with a Little Pipeline Through KY?
Sister Claire McGowan OP
“In sum, it seems that the Bluegrass Pipeline would risk much of
what makes central Kentucky dear to us: the beauty of our
landscape, the abundance of good water, the health of our air,
the peaceful quietness of our rural areas, and the general
sense of security from unexpected disasters. The benefits
are a few temporary construction jobs and some one-time
payments to a relatively few landowners. Central Kentuckians
need to ask whether we are willing to accept this risk/benefit
ratio for the sake of profits for big corporations earned by
converting NGL’s into petrochemicals for export to China and
India.”
(Sister Claire, a Bardstown resident, is a member of the Dominican
Sisters of Peace community at St. Catharine and Executive
Director of New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future in Springfield.)

19. The meaning of the landscape
• Wednesday, October 16, 2013
• Save the Bluegrass; Stop the Pipeline
• The Bluegrass Pipeline is an existential threat to Central
Kentucky. Because of the porousness of karst limestone
bedrock, even the tiniest leak - and all pipelines leak - of
the toxic liquids could destroy groundwater supplies and
agricultural health throughout the region.
That's the end of the horse industry. The end of the
bourbon industry. The end of the tourism industry
Blue in the Bluegrass
Liberal Politics from the Heart of Bluegrass Country
http://blueinthebluegrass.blogspot.com/

20. Williams Co. Pipeline Safety Record
• Safety is Priority One?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=_hMM4AAxWXk
Owner of PA Natural Gas
Facility that Exploded
Has Lengthy Record of
Pipeline Safety
Violations
http://www.naturalgaswatch.org/?p=1305

21. Pipeline Spin, or Pipeline Fact?
An editorial
• I want to put forth some FACTS about the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline.
• Fact #1—Since 2003 Willams Co. and their subsidiaries have paid or have
been ordered to pay approximately $311,310,854 in fines.
• Fact #2—These fines are a result of six explosions and six instances of
leaks, ruptures, or other negligent acts on their pipelines, since 2003.
• Fact #3—These instances have led to the deaths of 2 workers and 114
injuries, as well as an untold number of environmental toxins and hazardous
waste released into the surrounding communities.
• Fact #4—This pipeline will not be carrying natural gas underground through
our area. It will be carrying volatile gases such as ethane, propane, butane,
and other hydrocarbons that will provide no economic benefit to
Kentuckians.
• Fact #5—Two of the biggest industries in Kentucky will be directly
threatened and affected by this pipeline, those being the horse and bourbon
industries. Both of these industries rely heavily on clean water to thrive,
water that will be potentially contaminated by leaks, ruptures, and/or
explosions.

22. Linking the BG Pipeline to Fracking
• “Some days it's kind of hard to believe that small groups and communities
can make a difference in the way things are going in our world. If you could
use a shot of hope for all of us, take a few minutes to watch this video.
• It's about a small town that pulled together and made a huge difference for
themselves and many more well beyond their borders: Dryden, New York:
The Small Town that Changed the Fracking Game.
• We've had a taste of this kind of success with our work on the BG pipeline.
Let's celebrate that other groups are succeeding too!”
• "The industry kept saying: 'We have the power; you have none. We are
coming. Get out of the way or leave,'" says Joanne Cipolla-Dennis, recalling
what happened when the oil and gas industry came to her town of Dryden,
NY.
• But Joanne and her neighbors came up with a plan.
Watch the true story of people who discovered their shared strength and tur

23. Raising funds for the fight
• Each county group raised their own funds for their own
events.
• But shared items (e.g., T-shirts, bumper stickers, yard
signs) came from a pooling of funds with an individual
taking on responsibility for obtaining the items and then
trusting they would be refunded.
• With the formation of Kentuckians United to Restrain
Eminent Domain which filed the lawsuit seeking a
declaratory judgment against the pipeline company’s
ability to exercise eminent domain, fund-raising kicked
into higher gear

24. http://newpioneersfsf.org/bluegrass-pipeline
The New Pioneers created
the T-shirt that became the
immediately recognizable
symbol of pipeline
opponents.
The phrase is from the
Hazardous Materials Safety
Directive for NGLs.

25. Please support "Down the
Line: A True Story about
People Versus Pipelines," a
film about the #BluegrassPipeline
by Sellus Wilder.
He has just begun his kickstarter
campaign. https://www.kickstarter.
com/projects/896127769/
down-the-line-a-true-story-of-
people-versus-pipeli

26. Interesting partners of resistance
• Similar to the Keystone XL pipeline, the proposed Bluegrass pipeline in
Kentucky has met opposition from an unlikely coalition of environmentalists,
religious groups and libertarians defending property rights.
• …it didn’t take long for Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region to become the latest, if
improbable, flashpoint in North America’s pipeline wars.
• Driven by a mix of concerns over safety and property rights and bolstered by
a dose of environmentalism, the opposition blurs ideological boundaries.
• The clear stakes of the fight — the pipeline offers large rewards to a small
niche of the gas and petrochemical industries while offering little to the
Kentucky corridor it would cross — helps explain the passionate tenor of
opposition, says Deb Nardone, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Natural
Gas national campaign,
• Kentucky’s Keystone XL: The Bluegrass Pipeline
• February 19, 2014 by Cole Stangler
• http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/19/kentucky%E2%80%99s-keystone-xl-the-bluegrass-pipeline/
• This post originally appeared in In These Times.

27. Interesting partners of resistance
• “[Natural gas liquids] are not at all about domestic energy security,” Nardone
says. “It’s about what’s going to make the industry money. And that’s what’s
started to bring nontraditional allies together, as they realize it’s not in their
personal benefit in the long run.”
• Indeed, the more that residents educated themselves about the project, the
more the opposition’s ranks swelled. Landowners didn’t need to be experts
in the political economy of natural gas liquids — or for that matter, even care
about climate change — to conclude the pipeline presented little benefits for
their home state.
• “This is private companies doing this,” says Buff Bradley. “It’s not like it’s
gonna be something for us. I don’t even want it close to me. I sure don’t
want to leave this earth and leave my kids to deal with it either.”
• Kentucky’s Keystone XL: The Bluegrass Pipeline
• February 19, 2014 by Cole Stangler
• http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/19/kentucky%E2%80%99s-keystone-xl-the-bluegrass-pipeline/
• This post originally appeared in In These Times.

28. Building support
• National MoveOn.org
• Kentucky Student Environmental
Coalition
– To learn more and get involved,
visit the No Fracking Way hub
– http://www.wearepowershift.org
/blogs/bluegrass-pipeline-no-
fracking-way
• Herald-Leader Editorial, Toughen
rules on for gas pipeline; Add
issues of safety, rights to special
session, Published: July 23, 2013
• Say no to the Bluegrass Pipeline -
Envionment, property rights at risk,
By The Kentucky Standard Editorial
Board, Thursday, August 15, 2013 at
5:55 pm
Kentucky waterways Alliance
http://kwalliance.org/
Kentucky Council
of Churches
National
Catholic
Reporter

29. Building support
• In an effort to address the concerns of citizens, and to send a message to
legislators, Williams, and Boardwalk, eleven Kentucky counties on the path
of the new construction have passed resolutions related to the proposed
Bluegrass Pipeline.
• Scott County passed a resolution on 7/12/13
• Franklin County passed a resolution on 7/25/13, and thereafter passed an
emergency moratorium on road crossings
• Marion County passed a resolution on 8/1/13
• Anderson County passed a resolution on 8/6/13
• Washington County passed a resolution on 8//14/13. The City of Springfield subsequently passed a resolution
on 9/10/13, after Bluegrass Pipeline representatives contacted the city about routing the pipeline through a city-
owned landfill
• Pendleton County passed a resolution on 8/19/13
• Shelby County became the first Kentucky county outside of the original proposed route to pass a resolution,
which occurred on 8/20/13
• Woodford County passed a resolution on 8/27/13
• Nelson County passed a resolution on 9/3/13, which states that should eminent domain be used, the Nelson
County Fiscal Court reserves the right to deny road crossing permits for the pipeline
• Owen County passed a resolution in September, 2013
• ​Larue County passed a resolution on January 14, 2014

30. Williams and Boardwalk Promotion
of the Bluegrass Pipeline
• Jobs
• Energy independence
• Increased tax revenues
• Increased wealth for those signing easements
• Bluegrass Pipeline: American Opportunity
– http://bluegrasspipeline.com/project-benefits/
• Bluegrass Pipeline Protecting the Past, the Present, the
Future
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsdaVG-kqEc

31. New energy infrastructure is needed to
keep up with North America’s abundant
supply of natural gas and its associated
liquids. Williams and Boardwalk
Pipeline Partners, LP are proposing to
develop a pipeline project to transport
natural gas liquids from liquids-rich
supply areas in the Northeast to
demand Centers in the Gulf Coast.

32. Promoting the benefits of the
Bluegrass Pipeline
• “The Bluegrass Pipeline will carry the critical ingredients for making products that are used
by many Kentucky businesses, including the state’s robust auto manufacturing sector,”
said Williams Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development Jim Scheel, one of the
joint venture partners in the project.
• “That means jobs, and it means Kentucky continues to play a part in making our nation less
reliant on foreign sources of energy.
• It also means about $136 million in new tax revenue during just the first ten years.”
• Tthe AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department, a slice of organized labor supports
the Bluegrass Pipeline: “We support it because it’s work for Kentucky workers,” says Ed
Willoughby, director of the Kentucky Laborers Training Fund, which counts 3,000 members. “It
provides jobs for Kentucky workers and that’s something we need.”
• “The people that work construction, all of our jobs are temporary,” Willoughby says. “Every project
has a beginning, every project has an end. When those projects begin they help those working
families, they help their kids go to school, they help the economy around because they’re
spending more money and are able to pay their house payments and their car payments.”
Kentucky’s Keystone XL: The Bluegrass Pipeline February 19, 2014 by Cole Stangler This post originally appeared in In These Times.
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/19/kentucky%E2%80%99s-keystone-xl-the-bluegrass-pipeline/

33. Show Your Support!
To show your support for energy development in the
United States, please fill out the form below and hit
“submit”.
By doing so, you’ll be adding your name to a list of
individuals who support the production of clean-burning,
domestic natural gas.
Droege said pipeline developers expect to pay more than $140 million in total
easement payments in Ohio and another $50 million in Kentucky along the
pipeline’s more than 500-mile route through both states.
About 6,000 to 7,000 temporary jobs will be created during construction, and about
another 30 individuals will be added to the company on a full-time basis to operate
the pipeline.
Big stakes for Kentucky gas pipeline Dec. 17, 2013 6:31 AM
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20131217/NEWS0103/312170010/Big-stakes-Kentucky-gas-pipeline?gcheck=1

34. Bluegrass Pipeline community grants
• The Bluegrass Pipeline team is
committed to being a good
neighbor by putting safety,
environmental stewardship and
community support at the heart
of its operations.
• To help achieve this objective,
the Bluegrass Pipeline has
established a fund to benefit
local communities in counties
traversed by the pipeline project.
• The mission of the Bluegrass
Pipeline Community Grant
Program is to identify and help
fund projects that directly benefit
the surrounding communities.
• Grants up to $25,000 per year will
be awarded. Projects should
provide community benefits, with
specific emphasis for projects
impacting:
– First Responders / Emergency & Safety
Preparedness
– Youth or Senior Services
– Education Programs
– Economic Development
– Enhancement of open spaces and park
land for recreation
– Enrichment of wildlife habitat
– Promotion of environmental education
– Preservation of wetlands and wildlife
habitat
Bluegrass Pipeline announced it has awarded grants totaling more than $160,000 to 43
organizations in Kentucky and Ohio to fund projects that directly benefit counties affected
by the pipeline project. These grants are in addition to those awarded earlier this year.

35. The development of counter-frames
“But those that use scare tactics to oppose such projects do not want you to hear the truth:
that underground pipelines are a safe and effective method for transporting the energy
products on which the American economy.
The portion of the Bluegrass Pipeline causing concern is a new section that will join an existing
pipeline in Western Kentucky. News of this pipeline has been saturated with misleading
rhetoric by the same groups who regularly stand in the way of projects that will benefit
Kentucky’s economy.
If the Bluegrass Pipeline was an above ground factory, local officials and residents would be
lining up to cheer the new jobs and investment in the state! But because of the statements
of a noisy few, residents now believe that pipelines and the jobs and investment that come
with them are not safe.”
Opinion: Bluegrass Pipeline a vital part of state’s economic and logistical future By JAMES SCHEEL AND ALLEN KIRKLERepresentatives of Williams
& Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP http://www.nelsoncountygazette.com/?p=19458
• Noisy environmentalists
• Uninformed persons scared of change
• Persons stuck in the past
• http://marcellusdrilling.com/

36. The taint of eco-terrorism
• But now apparently citing water quality and contamination concerns
is an “act of terrorism.”
• A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy
director warned a group of Maury County residents that unfounded
complaints about water quality could be considered an “act of
terrorism.”
• “We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,” said
Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water
Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. “But you
need to make sure that when you make water quality
complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there’s no
water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland
Security an act of terrorism.”
Children Given Lifelong Ban From Talking About Fracking As Water Activists Labeled Terrorists By Government
By: DSWright Wednesday August 7, 2013 10:21 am
http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/08/07/children-given-lifelong-ban-from-talking-about-fracking-as-water-
activists-labeled-terrorists-by-government/

37. Meme with Wings: Are Western Anti-Fracking
Activists Funded by Putin’s Russia?
By: Steve Horn Tuesday July 1, 2014 1:08 pm
http://my.firedoglake.com/stevehorn1022/2014/07/01/meme-with-wings-are-western-anti-fracking-activists-funded-by-putins-russia
At a June 19 speaking event at London’s Chatham House, North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen claimed the
Russian government is covertly working to discredit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”)
in the west from afar.
“I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated
information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called
non-governmental organisations — environmental organizations working against
shale gas — to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas,”
said Rasmussen, the former Prime Minister of Denmark.
Rasmussen’s allegation that western “fracktivists” are or might be funded by the
Kremlin is a meme with wings.
In a June 2010 email revealed by Wikileaks, private intelligence firm Stratfor
(shorthand for Strategic Forecasting, Inc.) speculated that Josh Fox, director of
Gasland and Gasland: Part II, might be funded by the Russian government or t
he coal industry.

38. • A spokesman for a company building a pipeline through Kentucky says the
proposed route would avoid land owned by a group of Roman Catholic nuns
who have been outspoken opponents of the underground line.
• However, a spokesman for the Sisters of Loretto said that the nuns would
continue to protest the pipeline and ask questions about its benefit to the
communities in which it would be built.
• The Sisters of Loretto had refused to let pipeline surveyors enter their 780-
acre property in Marion County and had led community opposition to the
pipeline, urging their neighbors to know their rights when dealing with the
pipeline's developers.
• Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/04/2803895/pipeline-not-to-cross-nuns-land.html#storylink=cpy

39. Where are we at now?
• The Kentucky Council of Churches say more study needed on
Bluegrass Pipeline
– http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/more-study-needed-
bluegrass-pipeline-Kentucky-council-churches-urges
• March 25, 2014 Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled
that the Bluegrass Pipeline does not have the legal authority
to condemn land to pipe natural gas liquids across Kentucky.
• April 29, 2014 The developers of the Bluegrass Pipeline put
the project on indefinite hold, saying they don't have enough
customers for the natural gas liquids it would transport.

40. Where are we at now?
• New easements have begun to be filed in county
courthouse – but most appear to have been signed in
2013
• Because many of these report $10 as the
“consideration” for the easement rather than the actual
value, a letter is being sent to affected counties pointing
out the potential fraud re property and sales taxes due
on the easements
• In other words, the battle continues.
Stop the Bluegrass Pipeline
"We have not yet begun to fight." - John Paul Jones, Revolutionary
stopbluegrasspipeline.us