A Mountain View County woman who threatened to blow up a well site and shoot at workers last spring will be sentenced next month.Kimberly Mildenstein, 40, has pleaded guilty to a charge of uttering a threat. Her sentencing got underway before Judge George Gaschner in Didsbury provincial court on Monday.On March 15, Mildenstein sent a faxed handwritten letter to the Energy Resources Conservation Board in which she stated: “If you frack I will blow up your well and shoot bullets at your crew NAL (an oil company with operations in the area). You are at risk.”Included on the fax was the accused's name and contact number.The threat caused a well site near Mildenstein's Eagle Valley home, northeast of Sundre, to be shut down for a day and for a police investigation to be launched.The accused turned herself in to police a short time later after being contacted by Sundre RCMP.A search of her home found no bombs or bomb-making materials.During last week's court appearance, Crown prosecutor Kevin Doyle called on Judge Gaschner to impose a fine of between $1,500 and $2,000.He said the fine was justified because of a number of aggravating factors in the case, including that the threat was specific and that some planning went in to making the threat.“It must be communicated to the Alberta public that there are legal ways to express concerns,” said Doyle.Mildenstein's defence laywer, S. Allan Low, called on Judge Gaschner to impose a conditional sentence, which if granted would spare the accused a criminal record.Mildenstein sent the faxed letter after becoming frustrated with oilfield traffic and noise around her property, he said.Specifically, she believed the heavy truck traffic in the area was putting her children in peril, and that noise from drilling near her home was causing her children to be frightened, particularly when the noise woke them at night, he said.Prior to March 15 Mildenstein had made numerous complaints to the ERCB, and had sent letters to the premier, the prime minister and others expressing her concerns, he said.Low called the threatening letters “not something that was thought out”, noting that Mildenstein made no attempt to hide her identity as the writer of the letter.“She's not on a crusade. She's a mom concerned about her children's safety,” said Low.Asked by Judge Gaschner if she had anything to say before sentencing, Mildenstein read the following prepared statement:“I am sorry for causing so much fear to the Eagle Valley community and the families in the Town of Sundre who work directly or indirectly with the oil and gas industry. I am sorry to have frightened families who work with SPOG (Sundre Petroleum Operators Group), the ERCB, NAL and to have taken up everyone's time here today.”She also apologized to Sundre and Olds RCMP investigators, and said she was “especially disappointed in my inability to uphold and abide by the Canadian Social Workers and Alberta College of Social Workers code of ethics as a mother.”Mountain View County councillor Paddy Munro was in attendance at last week's court session. He said he was there to support Mildenstein.Judge Gaschner adjourned sentencing to October 22, saying, “The issue I have to deal with is a difficult one.”
