Charges reduced for 2 protesters of Sabal Trail pipeline
OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Prosecutors in north Florida have scaled back charges against two protesters accused of wedging themselves in a section of under-construction, natural gas pipeline.
The Ocala Star-Banner reports that the State Attorney's Office filed court papers Friday, stating they were unlikely convict 25-year-old Nicholas Segal-Wright and 29-year-old Karrie Kay Ford of grand theft and criminal mischief. They both still face trespassing charges.
Ford says she and Segal-Wright crawled about 250 feet into the pipeline Feb. 22 as a form of civil disobedience. The $3.2 billion, 515-mile-long Sabal Trail will transport natural gas from Alabama, Georgia and parts of Florida. Protesters have raised concerns about the pipeline's potential to leak hazardous chemicals.
Officials with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project after saying the project's harm to the environment was properly minimized.
Information from: Ocala Star-Banner