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HUNTINGDON -- A longtime Mariner East 2 pipeline opponent will spend two to six months in jail after a Huntingdon County judge found her in indirect contempt of court for violating a previous order.
Ellen Gerhart, 63, of Trough Creek Valley Pike, appeared shackled and in a red jumpsuit Friday before Judge George Zanic.
She was there to contest a claim by Sunoco Pipeline LP attorneys, who accused her of violating a court-ordered injunction by entering a construction right of way.
"I understand how emotionally charged this case is," Zanic said, warning those in the audience that outbursts would not be tolerated.
The seriousness of that warning was tested early in the hearing, which began at 11:30 a.m., when Gerhart's daughter, Elise, reacted audibly to testimony from pipeline security worker, Heather Martin.
Zanic ordered that she be ejected from the courthouse, and a female sheriff's deputy physically pulled her from a bench, leading her out of the courtroom.
"OK, I'm leaving," Elise Gerhart said.
Martin was answering questions posed by Sunoco attorney Alan Boynton, who showed security footage of Ellen Gerhart entering the construction area to block the use of equipment.
Sunoco Pipeline, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, is working to construct a cross-state pipeline that will be used to transport natural gas liquids.
The pipeline will pass through Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon counties, including the Gerhart's property. The company used eminent domain to seize a portion of Gerhart's land, gaining an easement where contractors continue pipeline construction.
Ellen Gerhart and her supporters are barred from entering that easement by an injunction ordered by the court in June 2017.
On Friday, Martin and security supervisor John Bricker testified, saying Ellen Gerhart has shown a continued presence on and around the easement since the injunction was ordered.
Their claims were backed by videos, which showed Ellen Gerhart starting small fires near a construction fence at the edge of the easement, throwing a large stick toward a pipeline employee and scattering food -- allegedly to attract bears and other wildlife.
There was at least one video that showed a bear on the easement before it hopped a construction fence. And State Game Warden Richard Macklem II testified that Ellen Gerhart was warned twice about feeding wildlife and a citation was filed against her.
"Baiting for bears is not permitted. Feeding bears is not permitted," he said. "It causes a danger to the public."
Some of the videos showed actions that were in contrast to testimony given by Ellen Gerhart at a bail hearing earlier this week, specifically claims that she did not start fires at night.
Martin said the number of days that Ellen Gerhart interfered with pipeline construction are "too many to count at this point." That comment was made when answering a question posed by Ellen Gerhart's attorney, Scott Pletcher.
Pletcher also was able to call a witness, but only after a break in the hearing allowed sheriff's deputies to locate Elise Gerhart and escort her back into the courthouse and courtroom.
Zanic said he was allowing Elise Gerhart to testify because her mother's constitutional right to a fair hearing trumped the behavior that led to her daughter's earlier removal.
Elise Gerhart's questioning started with queries about bear populations in the area.
"In general," Elise Gerhart said, "there are bears where we live."
She went on to tell a number of stories about times that she's spotted bears near her family home, seeming to dismiss claims that her mother's alleged behavior attracted the animals and that they put pipeline workers in danger.
"It's not a scary place to live," Elise Gerhart said. "The pipeline is being put through their habitat. … You've got to expect to see some wildlife."
Boynton also had an opportunity to question Elise Gerhart, but when she started to indicate that she too may have entered the easement since the injunction was imposed, Zanic advised her that she could incriminate herself and be charged.
"I don't want you to do that," Zanic said.
That prompted the conversation to shift to Ellen Gerhart's behavior, and Elise Gerhart told Boynton that her mother never indicated that she intended to defy the earlier injunction -- despite his continued effort to press her on the point.
"Of course we talked about the pipeline," she said, explaining those conversations never included plans to break the law.
After her testimony, Elise Gerhart was again escorted by sheriff's deputies from the courthouse, but not before she called out to her mother.
"Mom, I love you," Elise Gerhart said.
"I love you, too," her mother answered.
That was the longest sentence that Ellen Gerhart would speak during the Friday hearing, as she chose not to testify.
With that, Zanic moved to sentencing, with Pletcher urging him to exercise leniency because Ellen Gerhart's actions did not result in injury or damage to property.
"I don't believe they amounted to any kind of real harm," Pletcher said.
Zanic addressed Ellen Gerhart, explaining that he once had respect for her efforts to organize protests against the pipeline and to fight its construction by legal means.
That changed, he said, when she defied the injunction and began to interfere with pipeline employees' work.
"Your conduct was clearly a violation of court order," he said, explaining that "chaos" would ensue if everyone disregarded court rulings in the same way.
Ultimately, Zanic found Ellen Gerhart in indirect contempt and sentenced her to two to six months in prison, beginning with her previous incarceration date of July 27. She also is required to pay a $2,000 fine.
When the hearing was adjourned, some of those gathered in the courtroom to support Ellen Gerhart yelled messages to her.
Some told her they loved her, while others used curse words to express their frustration with the action taken against her. Ellen Gerhart's husband, Stephen, addressed Boynton personally.
"You are still a son of a bitch," he said.
After the meeting, Pletcher could not immediately say whether Zanic's decision would be appealed. Pletcher said he wanted to speak to Ellen Gerhart after the hearing, but she was quickly taken back to the Centre County jail, where she's been held in solitary confinement since her
July 27 arrest.
She is in solitary confinement because she refused to answer questions posed by her jailers, Pletcher said, calling her silence another form of protest.
A news release issued prior to the hearing also claimed that Ellen Gerhart has been refusing to eat as part of a hunger strike.
Pletcher said he still believes that his client's actions were "minor" in nature.
"But obviously the judge disagreed," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.