Hung Jury In Case Against Activists Who Shut Down WA Oil Pipeline

A jury weighing charges against an activist behind a coordinated protest that disrupted the flow of millions of barrels of crude oil into the United States failed to reach a verdict in a case in Washington state, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Ken Ward did not dispute that he shut down a valve on Kinder Morgan Inc's Trans Mountain Pipeline near Burlington, Washington, but a jury could not agree on a verdict for his charges of trespassing, burglary and sabotage. "I am surprised and hugely pleased," Ward said by phone on Wednesday afternoon.

Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said by email that his office has the ability to retry Ward and planned to make that decision shortly.

Ward's trial was the first in a series of proceedings that activists hope will serve as a referendum on climate change. Ward, 60, maintained that his actions are necessary in the face of the government's failure to address global warming. Ward was arrested in October when he and other activists in four states cut padlocks and chains and entered remote flow stations to turn off valves to try to stop crude from moving through lines that carry as much as 15 percent of daily U.S. oil consumption. Officials, pipeline companies and experts said the protesters could have caused environmental damage themselves by shutting down the lines.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-washington-pipeline-trial-idUSKBN15G5WC