Rudy Marchesi, Owner and Operator of Montinore Vineyard

Rudy Marchesi is the owner and operator of Montinore Estate Vineyard in Forest Grove and a long-time member of the anti-LNG movement.His biodynamic family-run vineyard is on the route of the Palomar Pipeline, threateninghis family’s livelihood with economic and safety concerns. Recently, we caught up with Rudy and asked him about his experience as a pipeline-impacted landowner and his thoughts on Liquefied Natural Gas development in Oregon. Check out what he had to say:

How has the Palomar Pipeline proposal impacted your life?
The proposal hasn’t impacted my life in a negative way yet.   I have very much enjoyed joining with neighbors in working to stop this ill conceived project.  If the project does goes through it will cost my business close to $750,000 in lost revenue over the next ten years.  This would be a very significant impact on our farm business.  We would also have to live with the knowledge that a dangerous gas pipeline is under our farm.  The Palomar engineers showed me where they

Rudy walking the vineyard

wanted to place the line at a depth of 3 feet.  This is the same area where we ruptured an 8 inch irrigation line buried at a four feet depth two years ago doing normal maintenance on our vineyard trellis.  I shudder to think of the devastation and loss of life that would have occurred if we had ruptured a gas line.  The recent explosion in San Bruno California is a reminder of just how dangerous these pipelines are.

Why do you oppose LNG development in Oregon?

The proposed Palomar line would be dangerous in many ways.  It would negatively impact the fisheries of the Columbia at the docking station on the River.  ”Floating bombs” in the form of gas tankers would be on the river on a regular basis disrupting normal river traffic due to the constraints of sailing one of these vessels on inland waters.  The Port of Portland is already struggling without adding this problem.
The proposed route of the Palomar line crosses over the coastal range passing through some areas of unstable soils and crosses streams that regularly flood.  We all know the power of floods and landslides and this has not been adequately addressed.  The route also passes by homes and schools and does not conform to Oregon law in the placement of utility lines.

Sheep "mowing" the vineyard grounds

When was the moment you knew you wanted to get involved in fighting LNG?

I knew I wanted to stop these pipelines when I realized that the people behind these projects were trying to shove them down our throats, at our expense, under the banner of national energy security when in fact they are just one more speculative “get rich quick” energy scheme, much the same as the Enron disaster.  They can’t possibly expect us to believe that they want to bring in imported gas when we have a century’s worth of reserves in North America that cost less than most of the natural gas from the rest of the producing regions.  I believe that if they succeed in building these pipelines it won’t be long before they ask to use them to export American gas to foreign markets at a big profit.  This does not provide our country with energy security.  It just lines the pockets of a few Wall Street investors.

Dan & Patty Armstrong

Dan and Patty Armstrong are the owners of Thistle Ridge Ranch in Yamhill County, in the heart of the Willamette Valley, and directly in the path of the Palomar Pipeline. As fourth generation Yamhill County residents and dedicated members of the anti-LNG movement, these local food producers have a deep appreciation of the bounty of the land and their responsibility for caring for their environment and community.  The Armstrongs are long-time members of the group Oregon Citizens Against the Pipelines, a group of rural Oregonians who gather their communities monthly in solidarity to stop LNG and related pipeline development in our region. At our last meeting we asked Dan for his thoughts on LNG pipelines, the impact to his land and his commitment to stop this development from destroying local economies and critical habitat. Here’s what he had to say:

In 2007 I learned from a letter sent by Palomar Pipeline that they intended to condemn my land and run a pipeline through my two best pastures. It felt like a kick in the gut. Not long afterward a letter from Oregon LNG informed me that they intended to run a pipeline almost the length of my western property line, completely destroying a twelve year old native woodlot/wildlife planting and taking out a beautiful, highly productive, big old walnut tree. Instantaneously, I knew either of these pipelines would be a genuine tragedy for this small piece of our planet.

Bison grazing on Thistle Ridge Ranch

Since arriving at this place after a career as a Navy Flyer, my goals were to finish raising my family, grow most of my own food and restore this acreage to as healthy a state as I could. The kids are gone, but a pipeline, (or two), would make those other life-long pursuits difficult and impossible. I was determined to fight them every inch of the way. Initially there was a lot of angst, uncertainty and despair. These were the days of the last Administration and I knew the federal government had no concern what so ever for my interests. I also knew the enormous power of the energy industry.

In my career, I had made six aircraft carrier deployments to the Persian Gulf and had seen super tankers lined up the entire length of that body of water like school children. I had flown missions in the First Gulf War to preserve America’s access to that energy. I witnessed first hand how our nation’s pursuit of foreign oil and gas was corrupting our leadership in the world, bankrupting our economy and severely damaging our military. Now bringing that foreign energy right through my little paradise was more than I could stand. I was sick and I was angry.

Letters to newspapers and every level of government were of little use. It was not until the creation of Oregon Citizens Against the Pipelines, (OCAP), with the aid of Columbia Riverkeeper, that we begin to gain traction. OCAP has been effective. Our united efforts, (and some good fortune with other circumstances; notably a change in Administration and decline in energy demand) have given us the time to broaden the awareness of the disastrous effects, locally and nationally, now and for decades to come of our dependence on foreign fossil fuel. Individual citizens are seeing that they can influence the course of our national energy policy. For us locally, the greatest impact we can make is to prevent the construction of these pipelines, which bring with them decades of continued pollution and dependence.

Family of goats on Armstrongs' land

I will continue to tend the bees; vegetable garden; orchard; chickens; goats and buffalo and the land; and be very grateful for it all. And I will fight these pipelines at every opportunity, knowing their creation brings with it significant, long term degradation of our planet.

Sam & Nancy Sweeney

Sam Sweeney is one of hundreds of Willamette Valley farmers impacted by the Palomar Pipeline. His family has been farming in Yamhill County for three generations and Sam, like many generational farmers, has a deep sense of stewardship for the land that provides his family a livelihood and supports the eco-systems around them. So when Palomar came knocking on his door threatening eminent domain to lay their line through his property, Sam put his foot down and joined in solidarity with his community to refuse LNG-company access to private lands for corporate profit.

In 2007 Sam learned that his farmland was on the route of not just one, but two LNG-related pipelines: Palomar Pipeline and Oregon LNG Pipeline. The two proposals combined threaten to disrupt his berry, vegetable and grass-growing operations for a minimum of two years during construction of the lines. The pipelines would also damage the nearby Willamette River and Palmer Creek, two important water sources for habitat and agricultural use in the Dayton area that Sam has worked to protect and restore.

The Sweeneys are doing everything they can to help put a stop to LNG development in Oregon. At the same time they continue their full-time family-run business at Country Heritage Farms as well as staying involved in other important agricultural and environmental issues in their community.

We asked Sam for his thoughts on the Palomar Pipeline and LNG in Oregon and here is what he had to say:

Why do you oppose LNG development in Oregon?

1. According to a study by the Oregon Department of Energy, Oregon Citizens do not need it; and if they did, it would be less costly and less damaging to the environment if it came from mid-America.
2. Eventually, the supply of fossil fuels will be depleted. We as a nation need to take the lead and develop other sources of energy that are long term sustainable. If we could accomplish this, we could share it with other nations, but still be number one. Renewable energy in the US would also defuse the conflicts in the Middle East and raise the standard of living world-wide.
3. It would place in our community and on our farm an unneeded and dangerous pipeline that we would always be worrying about whenever we would be in the fields.

What concerns do you have about threatened impacts of the Palomar Pipeline?

I’m concerned about the danger of it, when working nearby and the disruption of the natural soil strata when burying the line. Also, the cutting of our underground drain lines and irrigation lines could irreparably damage our farming operations. The removal of the wildlife habitat that we have restored and the noxious weeds that would become established in its place is also a concern. It also would cross a water impoundment structure used to store irrigation water for several thousand acres in our community.

How has the proposal impacted your life?

Serious, committed farmers, have a passionate feeling for the land and desire to improve and protect it, for not only their use but for the generations to come. There is an old Amish saying, “We do not own the land, but, only borrow it from the next generation.” When I first heard about the pipeline, I did not sleep for three days! The feeling of having the pipeline go through would be similar to an unwanted and strange group of people who not only moved into your house and ate at your dinner table, whenever they chose; but also, they would tell you the changes that they were going to make to your house and how you should live in it.

When was the moment you knew you wanted to get involved in the resistance?

Deep within me, there was always a desire to oppose it. But it seemed a hopeless waste of effort. Then I met Dan Serres, and recognized that through him, and the supporting organized structure of Columbia RiverKeepers, there was hope! Thanks Dan, and later Olivia Schmidt, and Columbia Riverkeepers!