New Database Tracks Attacks on Pipelines and Energy Infrastructure

For Immediate Release
October 25, 2017

Contact: (202) 870-7715

press@energybuilders.org

New Database Tracks Attacks on Pipelines and Energy Infrastructure

Energy Builders Applaud Congressional Action to Protect Energy Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, DC – Energy Builders today launched a new database, the Energy Infrastructure Incident Reporting Center, to track criminal attacks on critical energy infrastructure. The release of the Energy Builders new project comes on the heels of a letter from more than 80 Members of Congress to Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressing their concern with the rise in attacks on America’s energy infrastructure.

“Incidents of eco-terrorism, sabotage, arson, vandalism and violence are on the rise as criminal tactics have become a regular feature of pipeline protests, leaving taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars and potentially endangering lives, the environment and our national security,” said Toby Mack, President and CEO of EEIA. “We are pleased to see Congress working on this important issue to end unlawful attacks and criminal violence on energy infrastructure and the men and women involved in the energy infrastructure supply chain.”

Using public sources, independent reporting and verification and firsthand accounts, Energy Builders has documented a number of recent high-profile energy infrastructure attacks, including:

• 4/17: $70,000 of damage was inflicted on contractor-owned skid loader that was set on fire, as well as $75,000 of arson damage to pipeline equipment.

• 3/17: someone used a torch to cut a hole in the Dakota Access pipeline at an above-ground safety valve site southeast of Des Moines causing extensive damage in an incident of felony vandalism.

• 2/17: In Marion County, Florida, an anti-pipeline activist fired a large caliber rifle at the Sabal Pipeline causing extensive damage to a section of the Sabal Pipeline and construction equipment.

• 2/17: Two other protesters infiltrated the construction site and climbed inside the Sabal Trail Pipeline. They used locks, plastic pipe, chicken wire, tape, bolts and concrete to make it difficult for authorities to remove them, causing damage to a section of the pipe.

• 10/16: a rash of arsons along the Dakota Access Pipeline site caused more than $2,000,000 of damages to bulldozers and earth-moving equipment.

• 9/16: a mob of pipeline protestors tore down a fence “ambushed and assaulted” private security officers at the Dakota Access Pipeline site sending one individual to the hospital with injuries.

The Energy Builders Energy Infrastructure Incident Reporting Center is dedicated to tracking and exposing attacks on critical energy infrastructure. If you observe or hear about an incident of violence, sabotage, illegal trespass, or other misconduct, please describe it briefly here and we’ll consider it for inclusion in the database. Building and exposing a growing record of opposition misconduct helps the public and elected officials understand the extent of opposition threats to public safety, the environment and workers’ jobs.

To learn more about the Center and to report an incident of attack or sabotage on pipelines or other critical energy infrastructure, click here.

About Energy Builders

Energy Builders is a community-based coalition of workers, families and businesses dedicated to educating friends, neighbors and elected officials about the importance and benefits of energy infrastructure and its ongoing development. Energy Builders’ members are people and businesses who make their livings in the energy supply chain, building the infrastructure necessary to produce and deliver America’s energy. The industry sector provides over a million good jobs with a massive economic footprint throughout America.