Category: RT Press Releases

Water Protectors Lock to Gate and Ascend Equipment to Stop Line 3

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cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

(Floodwood, MN) Early Thursday morning, several Water Protectors under Indigenous leadership took action to shut down two Enbridge construction sites on the Line 3 pipeline route. While two people locked themselves to a gate, blocking access to a worksite building a pump station, four more individuals (Sonja Birthisel, Julie Macuga, Cody Pajic, and Leif Taranta) ascended and chained themselves to the top of large machines attempting to lay pipe at an adjacent construction site in St. Louis County.

Since construction began in December of 2020, the movement to stop the Line 3 pipeline has been steadily growing. Over 200 water protectors have been arrested protesting construction, making this the largest pipeline protest since Standing Rock. Several of the people participating in this morning’s action with Camp Migizi traveled across the country to join the resistance.

Dr. Sonja Birthisel, when asked why she was willing to risk arrest to stop construction, said “As an environmental scientist, I am painfully aware that it is time to transition away from fossil fuel dependence. I am here to stand for treaty rights, and the right to a livable future.”

Line 3 is a $4 billion dollar oil pipeline currently being built across Northern Minnesota by the Canadian corporation Enbridge Energy. The project aims to replace and expand the aging and corroded original Line 3 pipeline, which carries tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to Superior, WI. The existing Line 3 is responsible for the largest ever inland oil spill in US history, in which nearly 1.7 million barrels of crude oil spilled in Grand Rapids MN in 1991. Despite promises to bring needed income to Minnesota residents and hire 75% local workers, only a third of employees constructing the new pipeline are from Minnesota.

Construction faces active and growing resistance led by Indigenous groups who see the project and the risk of a spill as a violation of treaty rights. The pipeline threatens wild rice lakes in treaty territories where the Anishinaabe have the right to hunt, fish, and gather. Opponents also decry the project’s contribution to the epidemic of MMIWR (missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives) caused by the hundreds of temporary workers employed by the project.  Environmental groups are concerned about the pipeline’s contribution to climate change. Oil from the tar sands is the world’s most carbon-intensive fuel, and the expanded Line 3 would carry as much carbon as 50 new coal-fired power plants.

Interviews with movement leadership and photos available upon request.

 

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Climate Activists March in San Francisco Financial District, Demanding Banks Defund Controversial Line 3 Pipeline

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Climate Activists March in San Francisco Financial District, Demanding Banks Defund Controversial Line 3 Pipeline

San Fransisco: Today Diablo Rising Tide convened Bay Area climate justice groups and activists in solidarity with the struggle to stop the Line 3 pipeline. A 100 person march of shame” targeted the Wall Street West banks funding the hotly contested tar sands pipeline. Banks included Bank of America JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and MUFG subsidiary Union Bank. All located in the Financial District, i.e. Wall Street West.

The struggle against Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline is heating up in northern Minnesota, with Indigenous activists putting their bodies on the line to stop the pipeline and the harm it will bring to the environment and local communities. Over 200 ‘water protectors’ have been arrested and cited in dozens of actions along the pipeline construction route in recent months and solidarity demonstrations have spread nationwide.

In recent weeks activists from across the US, including the Bay Area, have traveled to Minnesota to occupy pipeline construction sites alongside Indigenous water protectors. At a number of separate camps, they have faced freezing cold temperatures and police repression. The massive pipeline expansion would carry foreign tar sands oil, one of the most polluting and energy intensive forms of fossil fuel in the world and would transport the carbon emissions equivalent of 50 coal fired power plants once operational.

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Two Line 3 actions today!

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pic via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from Camp Migizi and the Ginew Collective

from Resist Line 3 Media: “We wanted to amplify two actions taking place on the front lines of the Line 3 resistance movement today. Both Camp Migizi and the Giniw Collective are shutting construction down!”

From Camp Migizi: A lockdown at a construction site in St Louis county. Find more information on Instagram, Twitter, and from the live streams on their Facebook page.

From the Giniw Collective: 7 water protectors locked down at a Line 3 pump station. Boost this action on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
March 18, 2021
Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Pump Station
(Swatara, MN) Thursday morning, 7 water protectors locked to each other, blocking work on an Enbridge Line 3 pump station.
Enbridge announced it will be ceasing work in sensitive wetland areas per Minnesota law, but will continue work on pump stations and sites in “non-sensitive areas”. A steady stream of water protectors committed to stand with Anishinaabe treaty territory and future generations grows.
The action follows a visit to the Line 3 resistance by Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda, who is helping to bring the Ojibwe-led struggle into the national spotlight and reach the Biden administration. It is also the week of Representative Deb Haaland’s confirmation as the first Native cabinet member in U.S. history.
As the spring thaw comes to northern Minnesota, the trees are running with maple sap and many Ojibwe have begun the boil for syrup. Water is life, and it takes many forms. It is on us to protect our Mother.
Water protector Dakota McKnight said, “Today I am participating in direct action to against the Line 3 pipeline. I am a student at Macalester College, which is shamefully invested in Enbridge. As person who is of settler descent, I stand in solidarity with the Indigenous people who been fighting colonialism since the Inception of America.”
Water Protector Quintin Grabowski of Bear Lake, Michigan, said, “I am here to take action in solidarity with Natives who are fighting this pipeline that is desecrating the land. When institutions fail us, direct action is one of the last mechanisms that hold our power.”
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DC: Demo against Line 3 pipeline at US Army Corps of Engineers HQ, demand action from Biden

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cross-posted from Shutdown DC

Activists demonstrate against Minnesota Line 3 pipeline at US Army Corps of Engineers HQ, demand action from Biden

The Line 3 pipeline has faced criticism from Indigenous leaders and the climate movement since 2013

WHAT: Morning demonstration at the US Army Corps of Engineers office

WHO: ShutDownDC, 350 DC, Extinction Rebellion DC, Occupation Free DC, Arm in Arm 4 Climate DC

WHY: The struggle against Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline is heating up in northern Minnesota, with Indigenous activists putting their bodies on the line to stop the pipeline and the harm it will bring to the environment and local communities.

In recent weeks activists from across the US, including  DC, have traveled to Minnesota to occupy pipeline construction sites alongside Indigenous water protectors. At [X] separate camps, they have faced freezing cold temperatures and police repression. In once instance, police kettled a peaceful demonstration that resulted in one arrest and 70 citations for [X].

[would move this to the second paragraph] Against this backdrop, DC activists are urging President Biden and the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke permits for the Line 3 pipeline, echoing the demands of Indigenous leaders and 374 social justice organizations.

HOW: For press inquiries please contact Andrew Sobey, sobeyac@gmail.com, (425) 802-2140 or Thomas Walker, thomaswalker317@gmail.com, (540) 878-3295.