Randolph
Henry Harris, 37, was also issued a $500 Vermont civil violation complaint claiming he littered on the property of Chris Recchia, the commissioner of the Department of Public Service, according to a news release.
Recchia got a rude awakening last Wednesday morning, when environmental activists dressed in hard hats and safety vests arrived at his house in Randolph at 6:15 a.m., blocked the driveway with traffic cones, painted orange lines in the driveway and put up a replica of an oil derrick.
Ten to 15 protesters insisted that Recchia listen to them read “some type of affidavit” and demanded that he sign the document, he said. Recchia refused and told them he would call the Vermont State Police.
“I’d had half a cup of coffee at the time, but I told them, ‘I won’t let you read the affidavit, and I won’t sign it,’ ” Recchia said. “I told them, ‘You are trespassing.’ ”
Recchia said he went back inside his house and called the police.
The protesters then put up caution signs, “pretended to cut down a lilac” with a chainsaw and tied a yellow ribbon around a silver maple in Recchia’s yard, which he said they also appeared ready to cut down.
When the demonstrators got close to the house, Recchia said, he could see that the saw did not have a cutting chain on it and there was no danger the tree would be cut down.
He said one of the protesters, whom he recognized from a Rising Tide Vermont demonstration in Montpelier in October, erected a wooden replica of an oil derrick on his lawn.
“It was disconcerting,” Recchia said. “I’ve been in public service for a long time. I understand the opposition to the pipeline. We made a judgment based on good public policy. They’ve protested on the Statehouse lawn and I’ve met with some of them, but this is really beyond what should be acceptable for state employees or for anyone in public service.”
Recchia said it’s fine if protesters want to demonstrate in front of his office. But he added: “Leave my family and my animals alone.”
On Thursday, a group calling itself the People’s Department of Environmental Justice claimed responsibility for the act. In a news release, they said a “notice of eminent domain” was served to Recchia in protest of the commissioner’s approval of a Vermont Gas pipeline in Addison County.
“The land belonging to Commissioner Recchia is now under the legal jurisdiction of those most severely impacted by the permitting of the VGS Fracked Gas pipeline project,” protesters said in a video of the action. “If Recchia will not take any accountability for his role in rubber stamping extreme energy projects that accelerate the climate crisis, exploit First Nations communities and harass the public here in Vermont, the People’s Department of Environmental Justice will continue ongoing education development projects on this property.”
Three landowners who live along the route of the planned natural gas pipeline have fought Vermont Gas’ eminent domain proceedings that were approved by the Department of Public Service.
The demonstrators said in a news release that Recchia “suffered a good-humored and harmless parody of what dozens of Vermont homeowners have suffered for real under threat of eminent domain.” Trees at the homes of these Vermonters, the protesters said, really were cut down and “their land really has been disfigured.”
Harris is scheduled to appear in Orange County Superior Court on July 13 for the citation, which carries a maximum sentence of three months.
He was acquitted of a similar charge in November 2014, according to the Burlington Free Press.
Prosecutors in that case accused Harris and another man of trespassing on the South Burlington headquarters of Vermont Gas Systems that May, the Burlington Free Press reported. They said the two walked past the building secretary, headed into an “employees only” area, climbed a ladder to the roof and unfurled a banner.
In a statement to the Burlington Free Press, Harris identified himself as a volunteer organizer for Rising Tide Vermont. He’s also been active in past Rising Tide protests, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Lindsey Gillies, a former spokeswoman for the organization, said the group didn’t sanction the action.
Rising Tide has tried to hold up construction of the Vermont Gas pipeline and has held demonstrations against the Vermont Department of Public Service.
On Facebook, Rising Tide shared a video of the protest and said People’s Department of Environmental Justice protestors would be at an upcoming Rising Tide training session.
Valley News staff writer Tim Camerato contributed to this report.