A judge late Wednesday sentenced an airman-turned-environmental activist to 15 days in jail for trespassing during a protest of a New York energy company last month.
Retired Senior Master Sgt. Colleen Boland was among a group of protesters who were led away in handcuffs Oct. 27 after linking arms at the Schuyler County entrance of Crestwood, and blocking access of a tractor-trailer.
Boland was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct and pleaded guilty to both during a Nov. 5 court appearance. The judge in the case delayed his finding until Wednesday, when he tossed out the latter charge. Boland was given the option of paying a $250 fine or going to jail for trespassing.
Boland chose jail, said friend Kaye Newbury, who attended the sentencing last night's hearing. The judge told Boland she could delay reporting to jail until after Thanksgiving, Newbury said, but Boland she asked to serve her time immediately.
The retired airman joins a growing number of people who have been arrested in protests of Crestwood, which recently received approval to expand storage of methane gas in area salt taverns.
In an email statement, a company spokesman said it they respects the right of peaceful protests. It They involved law enforcement only "after the protests began to raise safety concerns and interfere with the operations" there.
While proponents of the project -- which has not yet begun -- say it is perfectly safe, members of a group called the Seneca Lake Defenders say they fear the environmental impacts in and around the largest of New York's Finger Lakes.
Boland, a career administration specialist who retired from the Air Force in 1995, is at least the second veteran to go to jail for trespassing on Crestwood property. Dwain Wilder, who served in the Navy four decades ago, was also sentenced to 15 days in jail but was released last week after spending just more than nine days in jail.
Both drew attention to their military service -- Boland wore her U.S. Air Force fleece jacket for the protest and a jailhouse vigil on Veteran's Day -- to show that those who oppose the project come from all walks of life.
"It's not just these liberal wackos saying 'the planet is dying, the planet is dying,'" Boland told Air Force Times last week.
