A second treesit has been set up at the site of the Tar Sands Blockade in Texas; both sits are ongoing. In other news:
- The tar sands blockade has successfully delayed construction of the pipeline for two days by locking themselves to construction machinery and shutting down the construction sites. There have been two successful blockades at construction sites in Livingston and Saltillo, Texas.
- Transcanada surveyors were also prevented from preparing for construction when landowners and community members turned them away north of Winnsboro at an ongoing vigil to protect a local vineyard which will be destroyed if construction begins.
- Two journalists working for the New York Times were handcuffed, detained and then turned away from private property by local law enforcement employed as private security guards for TransCanada.
- Nevertheless, the New York Times still ran a front-page article about the Tar Sands Blockade, including the first tree blockade in Texas history.
- On August 19th the Transcanada corporation officially began construction of the Keystone XL pipeline which will carry poisonous tar sands from Alberta Canada to the Gulf of Mexico despite overwhelming opposition from landowners and concerned residents, but a broad coalition called the Tar Sands Blockade is organizing to stop it.