Shale gas protest closes Highway 11 again

Anti-shale gas protesters blocked Highway 11 near Rexton again Wednesday, saidRCMP.

Burning tires and palletsstretched across the highway for hours, but the road was reopened around 10 p.m. AT.

Police also arrested one protesterfor mischief earlier in the day. They say the man - who was dressed like Santa Claus -was in the middle of the road, impeding traffic.

On Monday, about 100 protesters blocked the highway for several hours with a tire fire aftera judge agreed to extendSWN Resources Canada's injunction to keep protesters from interfering with the company's exploration work in the area.

Under the terms of the injunction, protestersmust stay 20 metres away from the side of roads where the company is working and 250 metres away from the front or back of its trucks.

SWNResources now has until Dec. 17 to complete its seismic mapping of the area.