Northeast Pa. family who lost hundreds of Maple syrup trees to failed pipeline project settles with company
Written by Victoria Scialfa on July 6, 2020
Northeast Pa. family who lost hundreds of Maple syrup trees to failed pipeline project settles with company
By Susan Phillips, StateImpact Pennsylvania
July 6, 2020
A Northeast Pennsylvania family who lost hundreds of Maple syrup trees to a failed pipeline project has settled with the company for an undisclosed amount. The Constitution pipeline project would have shipped Marcellus Shale gas to New York. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Susan Phillips reports the company dropped the project earlier this year.
The Holleran family tried to keep the pipeline off of their land through legal means and protests. But a federal judge ruled in favor of the company Williams. In the spring of 2016 crews accompanied by Federal Marshalls with semi-automatic weapons chopped down 558 trees, some were hundreds of years old.
Catherine Holleran says she’s glad the five-year battle is over.
“I’m kinda really glad that it’s ended. We’re happy to put that whole ordeal behind us. And we got our land returned to us. So that was our main objective.”
Holleran says she wants to help reform the Natural Gas Act so that individual landowners like herself have a level playing field with pipeline companies.
The company, Williams, did not return a request for comment.
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