On day 42 of her tree-sit to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline from clearcutting and drilling through Jefferson National Forest and the Appalachian Trail, ‘Nutty’ addressed concerns about her food and water supplies and physical health in a post via Appalachians Against Pipelines:
I wanted to write in response to the concerns I know many have expressed as to my health as I finish off my sixth week of living on this monopod.
I have gallons of water stored. I still have a stock of energy bars and some packets of applesauce. This is, comparatively, an extremely mild form of deprivation, and one I’m fortunate my body seems to have adapted well to. Recently a doctor hiked up to check on me, and asked (via megaphone, over the noise of the generator the cops turned on) if I needed any medicine. I don’t; all the medicine I want right now is to hear that rebellion is spreading.
A couple of members of the Giles County Rescue Squad (local ambulance, not rope rescue) have been coming here on their own time to check on me, and have been allowed to come in the closure and talk (though they cannot send anything up either). One of them warned me of the symptoms of rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure, which I am not experiencing, and said I was at increased risk of DVT (blood clots), which I mitigate by exercising my legs. Some aspects of living up here are uncomfortable, but none of this is life threatening as long as the support lines running to the four anchors for this pole remain intact.
There are far too many who do face life threatening risks from pipelines in our region.
Countless people and families are being confronted with the future of having their homes become part of the blast zone of pipelines carrying highly explosive fracked gas. Communities like Union Hill along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline route are being threatened with the toxic fumes of compressor stations.
Fight for their (and for your) health.
Tracts of contiguous forest habitat are being fragmented by pipelines, forested wetlands destroyed, waterways and aquifers threatened by inevitable pipeline leaks and spills.
Fight for their health.
We live in a toxic civilization that is killing us all (some faster than others) and decimating the health of our planet at a terrifying rate.
So we all have some major health concerns. Enough, certainly, to take the fire in our hearts, our rage against all that is happening to us, our families, our friends, our earth, and let it loose against those trying to destroy us.
Let’s prove that when the cops and pipeline security lounge and laugh at their camp under the monopod, comfortable in their knowledge that I can’t stay up here forever, they are grievously underestimating our strength and our determination to keep on fighting. Not in one place, not with one tactic, but with myriad possibilities for confrontation, disruption and attack.
Spread that fire.
To support Nutty and the tree-sitters blocking the Mountain Valley Pipeline, visit donate: bit.ly/supportmvpresistance
