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Prevent the Spire Pipeline at Principia College

This petition had 1,112 supporters

Principia College has been a conservation zone since the 1930s and the resources here have been preserved unlike many other places that have been plowed out or developed. The pipeline will destroy three known Native American sites (identified on the campus since the 1970s) and likely many more. This area of bluffs and protected valleys along the Great River Road is an area of outstanding natural beauty and has long been an area of Native American settlement and spiritual significance - with majestic burial mounds along the bluffs overlooking the river and idyllic native settlements. Driving a pipeline through this area that has been preserved for so long is desecrating an important natural and cultural resource.

This is also a major environmental issue. This land has two documented Timber rattlesnake dens, one on each side of the proposed pipeline. Clearing the forest would be separating the two dens from one another and could potentially destroy one den that sits very close to where they plan on digging. Timber rattlesnakes are listed as endangered in the state of Illinois and are federally listed as threatened. Spire’s project will be further threatening this already endangered species along with disrupting the rest of this area's ecosystem

For their pipeline, crossing over Principia property is Spire’s first choice because it is the cheapest and most direct. They claim that it is okay since there is already an ammonia pipeline along part of the route, but it is basically because it would be about $26 million cheaper for them than other options.

However, $26 million is really a drop in the bucket for this company considering how much they are spending overall, and it is not following the ammonia pipeline footprint across campus, but destroying a entirely new tract of land alongside it, about 100 ft wide by 1 mile long, through a unique natural and cultural area. Considering what it would destroy, it would be much better for them to go via Woodriver and around Alton - along the route of most pipelines that go across the river and through uninhabited farmland.

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Jessica Barker needs your help with “Prevent the Spire Pipeline at Principia College”. Join Jessica and 1,111 supporters today.