Enbridge pipeline protester sentenced to probation

A man who protested against Enbridge Inc. by spending a day inside a pipe last year was placed on a year's probation Monday.

Christopher Wahmhoff, 36, of Kalamazoo was given a 60 days suspended jail sentence, placed on probation for 12 months and ordered to pay fines and costs of $908.

He still faces a probable hearing to determine how much restitution he must pay the Calhoun County Sheriff Department and township fire departments from Fredonia and Marshall. They have submitted bills of $12,646 for spending the day during Wahmhoff's protest.

Wahmhoff spent about 10 hours inside an Enbridge Inc. pipeline on June 24, 2013, near Division Drive and 16-Mile Road in Fredonia Township.

He said he was protesting the building of a new pipeline by the company responsible for spilling more than a million gallons of oil in Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River near Marshall in 2010.

"I was relieved. I don't want to go to jail. I was willing, but I don't want to," Wahmhoff said after the hearing Monday afternoon before Calhoun County Circuit Court Judge James Kingsley. It was one of the judge's final court appearances before he retires Wednesday.

Wahmhoff described his act as one of civil disobedience and said it was more effective than just picketing the site.

"I don't think picketing would have gotten the same attention," he said.

More than 20 people attended the hearing after picketing outside the courthouse against Enbridge and the prosecution of Wahmhoff for trespassing and resisting police for refusing to come out of the pipe.

He was convicted of both charges Dec. 16 in a bench trial before Kingsley and faced a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Before Kingsley announced his sentence, defense attorney Denise Heberle of Ann Arbor argued that Wahmhoff should not be sent to jail.

"I argue that this is a man we need free," she said. "Free to continue his urgent work to educate the people about Enbridge. It was an act of civil disobedience. We believe that to defy an unjust law constitutes the most patriotic act a citizen can engage in."

Assistant Prosecutor Brandon Hultink said his office doesn't have the option to decide what laws are just or unjust.

"We have to enforce them, and in his case he broke it. I support his right to protest and of those who protested today out in front of the courthouse."

But Hultink said first-responders spent the day and thousands of dollars trying to protect Wahmhoff from the dangers inside the pipe, and he now should pay the restitution.

Judge Kingsley deferred on the amount and said the two sides must either agree or his successor, Judge Sarah Lincoln, will conduct a hearing to settle the amount.

Kingsley also said Wahmhoff must stay 500 feet away from any Enbridge work site.

Speaking to the judge, Wahmhoff said he grew up in Plainfield 100 yards from the Kalamazoo River, and in 2012 claimed he went to the river and sunk waist-deep into oil.

He accused Enbridge of hiding oil recovery and of dumping chemicals in Calhoun County and other locations. He said he will continue to fight construction of the new pipeline, which will replace the 60-year-old line that broke. He also is against a settlement that Enbridge recently announced with many residents who lived along the river.

"My trial on Dec. 16 was the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party," he said. "That was an act of civil disobedience, and I don't think the (American) revolution would have happened without it."

He told the judge he would not ask for leniency because he was protesting unjust prosecution.

"That is not part of civil disobedience. I am not going to ask for leniency or forgiveness and am not going to apologize for my actions."

He said after the hearing he will continue efforts against Enbridge.

"This confirmed the need for civil disobedience. I have nothing planned, but I don't see a better way to change the country right now," he said.

Before the hearing, Chloe Gleichman, 22, of Saline, was one of the protesters holding signs in front of the courthouse.

"We think that Enbridge should be the one prosecuted for causing all the damage that they did instead of citizens who are trying to protect the river and the community," she said. "When the state convicts people who are protesting for the health of the community, it commits treason; it's betraying the community."

Reporter Oliva Lewis contributed to this report. Call Trace Christenson at 966-0685. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson.