Oklahoma Grandmother Locks Herself to Keystone XL Heavy Machinery — Halts Construction of Tar Sands Pipeline

MEDIA RELEASE: April 9, 2013

For Immediate Release

Contact: Eric Wheeler, Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance, 760-914-2480, gptsresistance@riseup.net

Live updates and photos: http://gptarsandsresistance.org/2013/04/09/3rd-action/

Oklahoma Grandmother Locks Herself to Keystone XL Heavy Machinery — Halts Construction of Tar Sands Pipeline

In response to Exxon Mobil’s disastrous tar sands spill in neighboring Arkansas, Oklahoma residents are engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience to halt construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

ALLEN, OK – Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 9:00 AM – Oklahoma grandmother Nancy Zorn, 79, from Warr Acres, has locked herself to a piece of heavy machinery effectively halting construction on TransCanada’s Keystone XL toxic tar sands pipeline. This action comes in the wake of the disastrous tar sands pipeline spill in Mayflower Arkansas, where an estimated 80,000 gallons of tar sands spilled into a residential neighborhood and local waterways.

Using a bike-lock Zorn has attached her neck directly to a massive earth-mover, known as an excavator, which has brought construction of Keystone XL to a stop.  Zorn is the second Oklahoma grandmother this year risking arrest to stop construction of the pipeline, and her protest is the third in a series of ongoing civil disobedience actions led by the Oklahoma-based coalition of organizations, Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance.

“Right now our neighbors in Arkansas are feeling the toxic affect of tar sands on their community. Will Oklahoma neighborhoods be next?” asked Zorn before taking action today. “I can no longer sit by idly while toxic tar sands are pumped down from Canada and into our communities. It is time to rise up and defend our home. It is my hope that this one small action today will inspire many to protect this land and our water.”

Exxon Mobil’s recent Pegasus pipeline spill has forced local residents to evacuate their homes due to life-threatening toxins released into their neighborhood. Local families have experienced episodes of nausea, headaches, and respiratory problems due to acute exposure to deadly chemicals, like benzene, that are mixed in with the raw tar sands. Pegasus was carrying up to 90,000 barrels of tar sands a day before it ruptured and spilled.  The Keystone XL pipeline is slated to carry over 800,000 barrels a day; an alarming 10 times the amount of tar sands.

“In the last two weeks alone there have been at least six different inland oil spills across the country,” said Eric Wheeler, an Oklahoma native and spokesperson for Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance. “It’s time to stop referring to pipeline spills as accidents, it’s now abundantly clear that leaks are just part of business as usual. Tar sands hurt everyone they touch, from the indigenous communities in Alberta whose water is being poisoned, to the Gulf Coast communities that are forced to breathe toxic refinery emissions. We’re not going to allow this toxic stuff in our beautiful state.”

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 Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance is a coalition of groups, individuals, and supporters dedicated to stopping tar sands transportation and extraction infrastructure in the beautiful heartland of North America.

 

Seattle:Tar Sands Protestors Chain Themselves To Canadian Consulate Doors

RT seattleContact:
Annie Lukins: (206)708-4872 annielu@uw.edu

Tar Sands Protestors Chain Themselves To Canadian Consulate Doors

Seattle, WA: Two Seattle residents have chained themselves to the doors of the Canadian Consulate in downtown Seattle today protesting proposed pipelines that would bring Canadian tar sands to American refineries.

“We used to look up to Canada as an environmental leader, but promoting extreme energy like tar sands has soiled that reputation forever,” said Carlo Voli, a 47 year old Edmonds resident, as protestors poured fake oil over Canadian and American flags. Voli and Lisa Marcus, a 57 year old Seattle resident and grandmother, have U-Locked their necks to the doors of the consulate’s conference room.

Participants are protesting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and proposals to increase the number of tankers carrying tar sands through the Salish Sea. More than fifty people have been arrested at similar protests around the country this past month. 1

“We’re here to expose the collusion between the tar sands industry and the Canadian government,” explained Rachel Stoeve, a recent University of Washington graduate who was holding a banner outside the cheese factory, “The Canadian government and the tar sands industry are working together to bring tar sands to our communities. They’re not doing it for our benefit; they’re doing it for profit,”

Canadian Diplomats have come under criticism around the world for their aggressive promotion of the tar sands industry. The Harper Administration also provoked the indigenous rights movement Idle No More when they opened up native lands to development. In March Environmental Defense, a Toronto based group, released nearly one thousand pages of internal e-mails from Canadian diplomats outlining a strategy to promote the Keystone XL pipeline with American journalists.2 Last year an internal memorandum released by Post-Media news revealed the Harper government had deployed a network of Diplomats to lobby Fortune 500 companies in order to counter an environmental campaign targeting the tar sands.3 In Europe, the Canadian government has attempted to undermine the European Union’s “Fuel Quality Directive” with a lobbying campaign that Friends of the Earth described as “possibly the most vociferous public relations campaign by a foreign government ever witnessed in the EU.”4

While the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline has become a headline issue for environmentalists around the country, Seattle residents point out that Canada’s tar sands are already impacting the Salish Sea. All five of Washington’s refineries currently process tar sands materials, transported by Kinder-Morgan’s Trans-Mountain pipeline and oil tankers.5 THe Kinder-Morgan has proposed twinning the Trans-Mountain pipeline nearly tripling its capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 850,000 barrels per day.6

“”There is no safe method for tar sands transport. Kinder Morgan’s plans could bring up to 360 tankers through the Salish Sea7 and the Department of Ecology still has no plan to deal with a tar sands spill. It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” warned Rachel Stoeve

The Department of Ecology estimates a major oil spill could cost the state’s economy $10 Billion and 165,000 lost jobs as well as wipe out Washington’s resident Orca population.

“We’ve had enough of politicians on both sides of the border acting as mouthpieces for the fossil fuel industry. It’s time for ordinary people to put their bodies on the line to protect our region and our climate from extreme energy,” said Voli.

Photos available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94446910@N03/

In solidarity with the Unist’ot’en March 30 Global Day of Action, supporters demonstrate and deliver message to Chevron Global Headquarters in San Ramon, CA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* *

Contact: Annie Banks

Phone: 415-728-1134

Email: anniembanks@gmail.com

In solidarity with a global day of actions happening all over North America on March 30, a group called Anti-Colonial Queer Action (ACQA) traveled from San Francisco to San Ramon, CA (Ohlone Territories), where Chevron has its
global headquarters, to demonstrate against fracking pipelines on Unist’ot’en and Wet’suwet’en territories and deliver a message from the Unist’ot’en to Chevron.

ACQA hoisted a banner that stated “No Fracking Pipelines on Indigenous Territories,” to the flagpoles outside of Chevron’s compound at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Rd. Afterwards, members of ACQA read out and delivered a letter, written by Unist’ot’en spokesperson Freda Huson.

The letter outlines the Unist’ot’en’s inalienable rights to their lands and to defend their lands. Chevron Corporation and all associated investors have acquired 50% ownership of the proposed Pacific Trail Pipeline project,
a project which has already been evicted from Unist’ot’en lands. The letter is a warning of trespass to anyone who is infringing upon traditional Wet’suwet’en territory.

“The Unist’ot’en Camp is a resistance community created to ensure that no pipelines will ever cross Unist’ot’en traditional territory. They act to protect the land and the increasingly unstable climate, to do what is best for future generations.” - “Stop Fracking Chevron” flyer

Chevron’s impacts reach from up north in Unist’ot’en territory down to the Bay Area and around the world. In the Bay Area, Chevron’s emissions from their Richmond refinery are responsible for impacting the health of
frontline communities, which are primarily communities of color. Impacted communities around the Bay Area have been organizing against the harms from Chevron’s toxic emissions.

# # #

Read the Unist’ot’en’s letter here:
http://calamites.resist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Chevron-Letter.pdf

Stop Fracking Chevron Flyer here:
http://calamites.resist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Chevron-Flyer.pdf

Unist’ot’en Camp website: http://unistotencamp.com/

Rising Tide Toronto Delivers Letters of Trespass to PTP Investors

This morning members of Rising Tide Toronto delivered letters of trespass to the top institutional investors of Chevron, while hosting impromptu “educational sessions” outside their offices. This was done in solidarity with actions taking place on Saturday March 30th as cities across the country answer the Unist’ot’en’s call for actions against Chevron and those that finance their fracking projects. The grassroots Wet’suwet’en, especially the Unist’ot’en and Likhts’amisyu clans have repeatedly told PTP officials in meetings and face-to-face encounters that they will not tolerate any pipelines through their territories. The Unist’ot’en drafted trespass letters to inform investors that they are “equally responsible and accountable for any trespasses and violations carried out on Wet’suwet’en yintah (territory).” Protesters walked the “financial walk of shame” targeting Vanguard Group, Capital Group, and State Street Corporation hoping to alert these investors that the Pacific Trails Pipeline is fraught with risk and illegality.

Chevron is the new corporate face of the Pacific Trail Pipeline project, having recently become 50/50 partners with Apache to build a fracked gas pipeline across 500 kilometres of largely unceded land, from Summit Lake to LNG plants planned for Kitimat.

Everywhere they operate, Chevron exploits land and people for money, often through the use of force and without taking responsibility for the consequences.

“If Chevron tries to install unsanctioned pipelines through unceded lands they will meet complete and utter defeat”, said Freda Huson of the Unist’ot’en Clan. “We will resist all of their plans. We act to protect our lands, and the climate stability of the whole planet.”

The last call for action in support of the Unist’ot’en resulted in rallies in 20 cities across North America on November 27th 2012. Shortly after, former PTP co-owners EOG and Encana divested from the project. Interestingly, RBC acted as the exclusive financial advisor to EOG and Encana during a deal which saw Chevron assume 50% ownership of the Pacific
Trail Pipeline and Kitimat LNG.

“Today we visited Chevron’s investors to let them know that the Pacific Trail Pipeline isn’t going to happen,” said Taylor Flook, a member of Rising Tide Toronto. “The Unist’ot’en are mounting a determined resistance against incursions onto their territory, and a space is being carved out where we can change the course of Canada’s energy future.”

Read Chevron fact sheet.

Read the letter to Chevron from the Unist’ot’en clan.