Mountain Valley Pipeline protester to perform community service

Emily Satterwhite walked from the Montgomery County Courthouse to the cheers of supporters.

"Be like Emily," they chanted, " Not like MVP."

Satterwhite was facing two misdemeanors stemming from a protest in June, when she chained herself to a piece of heavy equipment in the Mountain Valley Pipeline right-of-way.

Satterwhite did not plead guilty, but she agreed to perform 200 hours of community service. The judge dismissed one charge and took the second under advisement for 12 months.

Early on the morning of June 28th, Satterwhite climbed onto an excavator near the top of Brush Mountain.

She said she was calling on the Governor and the State Water Control Board to stop the project.

She blocked the right of way for over 12 hours, but was eventually removed and arrested.

"We've asked our State Water Control Board to stand up for us. We've asked our Governor to stand up for us. We've asked the Federal energy Regulatory Commission to do the right thing. We've asked the courts to do the right thing," Satterwhite said after the hearing. "And it's taken just regular everyday people who have had enough, dozens of who have been arrested in this pipeline fight."

Satterwhite thanked her attorney, supporters and the law enforcement officers who responded in June

"Emily Satterwhite thinks it is appropriate to recognize the significant work that law enforcement expended in this matter," said her attorney John Fishwick, "and to repay it through community service hours."

"I am also grateful to the state and county law enforcement officers who treated me with respect and in some cherished instances with compassion and kindness," Satterwhite told reporters.

Representatives of the Mountain Valley Pipeline did not offer comment on the court hearing Thursday afternoon.

Satterwhite said she plans to continue speaking out against the project.

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A protester who chained herself to a piece of heavy equipment to block construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline will perform 200 hours of community service.

Emily Satterwhite is a Virginia Tech professor. She appeared in Montgomery County General District Court Thursday.

One of the charges she was facing was taken under advisement for 12 months during Thursday’s hearing. Another charge was dismissed.

Satterwhite was arrested in June after she spent most of a day chained to an excavator that was parked in the pipeline right-of-way near the top of Brush Mountain.