Update: A total of 23 people have been charged with defiant trespass, a misdemeanor of the third degree, according to Brett Hambright, a spokesman for the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.

A juvenile who was charged was released, he said. The rest are headed for arraignment this evening, and bail will be set.

The names of those who were arrested have not been released.

Hambright wrote that the "protesting individuals were extremely cooperative and peaceful in their behavior today. Our police officers strived to reciprocate that same level of respect in their dealings with the individuals."

Reported earlier

The arrests began just before 1 p.m.

One by one, the suspects were cuffed, and mugshots were taken as a police officer held a yellow booking slip in front of them. As they waited to be taken into custody, they sang spirituals and hymns. One officer remarked that police "rarely" arrest sober people who are singing.

Those arrested were among the protesters of the Atlantic Sunrise, a 180-mile-long natural gas pipeline being built by Williams Partners, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based, energy infrastructure company.

The pipeline will cut through 10 central Pennsylvania counties, carrying natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region to the market on the East Coast, including the Cove Point export terminal on the Chesapeake Bay.

About 70 protesters had gathered Monday in hopes of stopping construction of the pipeline through a cornfield owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, a Catholic order of nuns that owns a large swath of land in western Lancaster County and has been fighting the pipeline.

They assembled at 7 a.m. at a makeshift chapel erected by the easement for the pipeline, just outside of Columbia in Lancaster County.

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Organizers did not know what to expect. They prepped the protesters for the possibility of arrest and made sure that they all filled out "jail support forms," listing their emergency contacts and other pertinent information.

They asked them to write the phone number for legal aid on their arms with permanent marker to ensure they had the number once in custody.

"We're not sure how it's going to play out," said Mark Clatterbuck, an associate professor of religion at Montclair State University and one of the leaders of Lancaster Against Pipelines.

It played out slowly on the frigid, wind-blown hillside, the protesters gathered by the chapel as pickup trucks cruised by on the 120-foot-wide easement just behind them. Some of them waved to the construction workers and shouted, "Good morning."

They sang and prayed, awaiting word on when something would happen. Construction was to begin Monday – two days after a federal judge declined to grant the Adorers an injunction to stop construction as the federal civil liberties suit the order filed winds its way through court.

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The Adorers claim that the developer's seizure of the rights to the easement via eminent domain violated their religious freedom, since reverence for the land was among their deeply held spiritual beliefs.

"We're here to support the sisters," Clatterbuck said.

The protest was organized by Lancaster Against Pipelines. The sisters of the Adorers were present, but remained low-key. None of them were among those arrested; had they been, they could have been held in contempt of court for trying to thwart a court order.

For several hours, it appeared nothing was going to happen. There was no heavy equipment present. No earth was being moved. A steady stream of pickup trucks, climbing from Route 462 to the crest of the hill on Locust Grove Road, was about the only activity.

Organizers prepared those who might be arrested, advising them to be peaceful, not to curse at the cops or touch them, avoid angry screaming. In short, as Clatterbuck said, "to be disciplined."

Legal support was on-site, as was a medic and liaisons working with the police to make sure any arrests were carried off without a hitch. (Organizers also asked protesters not to speak to the assembled media, leaving the organizers to deal with reporters.)

"We're not here to pick a fight," he said. "We're here to protect this land."

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At about 9:15 a.m., word came that construction was to begin. Earth-moving equipment was going to be trucked in to excavate an entrance into the cornfield on Locust Grove Road, and a fence was going to be erected along the boundary of the easement, marked by stakes topped with pink ribbons.

By 10 a.m., the group walked up the hill and assembled at the entrance to the right-of-way, preparing to block the earth-moving equipment as it entered the cornfield.

Among those who volunteered to be arrested was Clatterbuck's wife, Malinda, a Mennonite minister who said it was "an issue of justice."

"I wish I didn't care so much," she said. "But I can't walk away from injustice."

At about noon, an oversized flatbed carrying an excavator lumbered to a stop on Locust Grove. The machine crawled from the trailer, over the incline by the side of the road, and as it reached the cornfield, the protesters gathered around it and held hands.

Talks between the organizers and police began. Organizers had feared that U.S. Marshals would be enforcing the court's decision to allow construction to begin. That would have meant those arrested would have been transported to Philadelphia and held until a contempt of court hearing could be scheduled.

As it was, though, local police would handle the matter and, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's office, those arrested would be charged with defiant trespass, a misdemeanor of the third-degree that carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail.

About a half-dozen police officers moved in at about 12:30 p.m., warning those who didn't leave the easement would be subject to arrest. The police gave the protesters 15 minutes to clear out. Many of them did.

About two dozen stayed, singing and doing the hokey-pokey as they awaited their turn to be arrested. Among those was a woman and her 14-year-old son.

Sister Bernice Klostermann, watching from outside the easement, said, "We really appreciate the support we've gotten. When people put their lives on the line for you, it's meaningful."

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Williams spokesman Chris Stockton said that while the company "respects the rights of people to protest, our focus is on constructing this important, federally approved project in a safe and efficient manner."

The company, he said, will continue to work "with local and state authorities to ensure protesters, construction personnel and our employees are protected during construction."

Brett Hambright, spokesman for the Lancaster County District Attorney's office, said police would maintain a presence at the location "to make sure everything goes smoothly."

The company issued a statement that read, in part, "We are committed to treating all landowners fairly and with respect. It is important to note that the Adorers property, which until recently has been used for farming, will continue to be able to be used for farming once the pipeline is installed."

As the last of the arrests were made and those arrested were hauled away to local police stations for processing, construction workers, who had spent the previous couple of hours watching the protesters, some snapping photos with their phones, returned to work, unloading chain-link fencing from a flatbed truck.

The protesters walked down the hill to the makeshift chapel, and in one last act of defiance, moved the chapel from the edge of the easement into the land cordoned off for the pipeline, an area that would soon be enclosed by a chain-link fence.

Reach Mike Argento at 717-771-2046 or at mike@ydr.com.

About the pipeline

It’s called the Atlantic Sunrise and has been in the works for two years, a $3 billion expansion of the existing Transco pipeline, a 10,200-mile-long network that stretches from Texas to New York.

The project consists of 180 miles of pipeline crossing 10 central Pennsylvania counties, starting north of Scranton and terminating in southern Lancaster County. Once complete, Williams Partners says, it will connect the Marcellus shale region to East Coast markets, delivering enough natural gas to power more than seven million homes.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after lengthy review and numerous public hearings, approved the project in February.

Williams has settled with 99 percent of the more than 1,000 landowners affected by the pipeline.

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, founded in Italy in 1834 and established just east of Columbia in 1925, are among the one percent.