FALMOUTH, Fla. — Alexa Oropesa, a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat, was shaking Monday morning when she and Kaithleen Hernandez locked themselves together under a Sabal Trail Pipeline truck hauling equipment on a dirt access road.

The Sabal Trail Transmission is 515-mile interstate natural gas pipeline to provide energy services for Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The project is a joint-venture of Spectra Energy Corp., NextEra Energy, Inc. and Duke Energy. The pipeline was approved in October, 2013 and is expected to be completed this June, according to their website.  

Protests have been delaying the project since October of last year, and hundreds gathered on Jan. 15 to fight the construction of the natural gas pipeline. For the first time in history, The Suwannee River Park near the pipeline site in Florida closed its gates due to overcrowding.

Two days later, a group of protesters halted construction by blocking an access road near the Suwannee River State Park outside of Live Oak, Florida.

Hernandez and Oropesa, both from Orlando, were part of a group of protesters that blocked the truck on the access road before using a protest maneuver called a sleeping dragon to lock themselves to the bottom of the truck.

The sleeping dragon is when protesters handcuff their hands to each other inside PVC pipes, usually in a circle. The two protesters were wrapped around a piece of metal under the truck.

A Suwannee County official at the site said the protesters were attached to a piece that could be removed, but they were waiting for backup because of how many protesters — about 30 — were at the site. 

Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John said the protesters pushed his hand.

“We were allowing them to express their first amendment right, and up until today we had two days of peaceful protest,” St. John said. “I hoped it would remain peaceful, but there’s a group of them willing to be arrested to further their cause.”

When backup arrived, the police formed a line and began forcing protesters back away from the truck, arresting anyone who failed to move. According to protesters, eight people were arrested.

Hernandez said she locked herself to the truck to slow down the pipeline’s construction and raise awareness.

More than anything this is about raising awareness because not enough people know what is going on,” Hernandez said. “And sometimes, in these cases, it takes something this drastic in order for us to be able to move others and inspire change.”

Lynn writes for the Live Oak, Florida Suwannee Democrat.