SNWA Pipeline to Vegas is a 300 Mile Long ELF Training Ground

Oral arguments in SNWA appeal set for June 13, 14 of next year

Posted: Friday, September 28, 2012 8:00 am

Oral arguments in SNWA appeal set for June 13, 14 of next year

by Lukas Eggen

Ely Times Staff Writer

The Ely Times

Oral arguments has been set for June 13 and 14 despite numerous parties petitions to appeal the State Engineer’s decision to allow the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pump water from Spring Valley, Dry Lake Valley, Delamar Valley, Cave Valley and Great Basin Valley. Lawyers representing the parties had a status hearing Friday morning where Senior Judge Robert Estes presided over the proceedings.

“I think it’s too early to say anything more than straight forward procedural decisions were made and scheduling was determined,” attorney Simeon Herskovits said.

Herskovits represents White Pine County in the case.

Among the decisions made during the hearing included granting the SNWA a motion to intervene and a motion to consolidate.

Dates to file briefs as well as responses to briefs were set as well, with the first deadline coming January 31.

“For a case like this, I would say the timeline, in terms of briefing and oral argument, is a pretty good one,” Herskovits said.

The first deadline is Oct. 31 when the State Attorney General’s office and State Engineer must have everything in the record in electronic form and paginated so the parties can reference and cite interviews, documents, etc. throughout the case.

The next deadlines concern the briefs and when briefs and responses will be due.

“They’re spaced out as much as they are because they need a certain amount of time to make sure we can carefully read through everything that’s pertinent and figure out what the most fitting response is,” Herskovits said.

A decision on the case could come as early as next summer. Herskovits said he expects that no matter how Judge Estes rules, the opposing party will appeal the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.

“He will receive the oral arguments of all the parties and take whatever time is necessary to issue a ruling on the case,” Herskovits said. “There’s no way of knowing when that will happen, but my guess would be is we will have a ruling in the summer or the fall of next year. It’s certainly possible that whatever comes down on one side, the other is likely to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.”

With Friday’s status hearing starting what will likely be a long process, White Pine County Commissioners feel strongly about the position they are in and that the upcoming court process will end in their favor.

“White Pine County is in a great position going into the next round of court battle,” County Commissioner Gary Perea said. “We have established a large, detailed and persuasive record to put before to the Courts. More then likely, this fight will be going on for some time, but I think it is important to take note that our hard work is playing off. I went to a meeting in Las Vegas back in 2005, when this project was resurrected by SNWA. At that meeting SNWA stated that their schedule was to start construction in 2012. Here we are in 2012 and they are still a number of years away from starting construction.”

SNWA spokesman J.C. said the SNWA is equally as pleased with the schedule set and is confident about the hearing.

“The Southern Nevada Water Authority is pleased that this process is moving forward and fully expects the Nevada State Engineer’s decision to be upheld,” Davis said. “Essentially, the outcome of the hearing brings us to the starting line and gives us a clearer idea of the case’s timeline. Legal proceedings can sometimes be protracted and this case has implications for the water supply of 2 million Nevadans, so we are certainly pleased that oral arguments are scheduled for completion by next June.”

The State Engineer ruled in favor of the SNWA to pump water earlier this year.

http://www.greatbasinwaternetwork.com/news/news_display.php?id=674

http://www.greatbasinwaternetwork.com/


Since the SNWA under General Manager Mulroy does not appear to be willing to consider the numerous other options besides the pipeline from already dwindling Nevada aquifers (Snake, Spring and Delmar Valleys), drastic action may need to be taken.

The nearly 300 miles of pipeline construction in the Great Basin desert ecosystem of Nevada presents a potential training ground for ELF activists who wish to practice eco-sabotage against the industrial system. The spring snails will certainly not be talking or snitching on any lone wolf ELF activists who wish to experiment with demolition and sabotage of construction vehicles.


«North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office Subcommittee on Eco-Terrorism
05.22.12


North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office Subcommittee on Eco-Terrorism (2002, Portland, OR)

One of the most frequently repeated myths about direct action is that is so damaging to public opinion that if people didn’t already do it, the government would in order to criminalize movements. If this were true it certainly seems that the system would spend less time trying to prevent radical action by silencing it’s proponents and more time harassing the Sierra Club. The truth is that nothing scares corporations and their paid-in-full politician pets like a well organized group with a willingness to fight and the ability to reach the public with their ideas.

In the late 1990s environmental sabotage was happening all across the world, but was particularly frequent in the northwest of the United States. At the forefront of these actions was the Earth Liberation Front, an anonymous, underground group, who utilized above ground spokespeople to reach the public. Their primary conduit for media relations was an activist from Portland named Craig Rosebraugh and his organization, the North American ELF Press Office. For his role in publicizing the motivations and rhetoric of the ELF he had his arm broken by the police, his home raided by Joint Terrorism Task Forces, his break cables cut, was repeatedly subpoenaed to grand juries, and eventually was called to testify before a congressional sub-committee who hoped to imprison him on contempt charges. The so-called “Eco-Terror committee” surely hoped that Craig would be an easy target, but that didn’t exactly work out for them. Snarky, educated, and angry, Craig’s testimony ran the gamut from stonewalling, to educational, to hilarious. For example, while running the Press Office with his friend Leslie James Pickering, Craig owned a bakery. When asked how the press office was funded, Rosebraugh simply replied “muffins.” When asked who had asked him to become the ELF press officer and how he was contacted, Craig responded, “Jesus Christ. It was a spiritual sort of thing.”

Jokes aside, a congressional subpoena represented a shift in the way environmental sabotage was being treated by the system, and publicizing that fact fell to Leslie James Pickering. In order to spread the word about the hearings, the NAELFPO sold a DIY booklet containing all of the testimony presented by both sides at the hearing and the subsequent written questions sent to Craig by the subcommittee. In a recent conversation with Conflict Gypsy about the booklet, Pickering had this to say:

“I can’t say for sure, how many of these were printed, but it was definitely less than 500. I had a little production line going, with people wearing gloves and hats, only half-jokingly, recently having learned about the WUO and Prairie Fire. The subcommittee was in February of 2002 and I left Portland in June of 2002. These booklets were produced somewhere in between there…probably March or April, because I utilized some machinery they had at college before the semester let out and because this was actually in peoples’ hands before it was easily found online. They were distributed through the ELF Press Office, which means that people could send us $10 and get a copy mailed, or get one at one of our event tables. A good chunk of them also went to AK distro, but we never saw a cent from those, which is another story. One of the more interesting aspects were the complaints from anonymous anarchists about it costing too much. This was when the PO was being bombarded with anonymous comments which were critical from many angles. I often think of how much work went into this and how cheap these people were, assuming for a moment that they weren’t all feds. If we didn’t have the old magnet scam going [where large magnets would be used to reset the copy keys at Kinkos - ed] we would probably have lost money at $10, because it was a pretty thick booklet.”

http://www.conflictgypsy.com/2012/05/north-american-earth-liberation-front-press-office-subcommittee-on-eco-terrorism/

*****LONE WOLF ACTIONS PREVENT ARREST AND SNITCHING!!!*****

It is important to note that the main reason that people are arrested is because one member of a team becomes a snitch. This can be avoided by engaging in LONE WOLF ACTIONS ONLY!!!

A lone wolf ELF activist needs only to follow certain rules to succeed;

Harm no human or animal in the process of eco-sabotage!!

Do not brag, babble, mumble or otherwise talk in your sleep about any type of eco-sabotage!!

Do not let anyone see, smell or hear you while engaging in eco-sabotage!!

IF you can follow these three rules, then there may be 300 miles of practice training ground to destroy the SNWA pipeline!!

Welcome to the Great Basin ecosystem ELF lone wolves!!

Here's a great theme song for lone wolf ELF activists;


"To walk the night
To forever roam
To escape inside cool darkness
Alone"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=353Ngbz70sY&feature=related