Park Rapids, MN: 8 Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Fueling Station

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 4, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

8 Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Fueling Station

(Park Rapids, MN) Thursday morning, 8 water protectors locked to one another with barrels of concrete and a piano blockaded an Enbridge fueling station and worksite as dozens more held space.
As piano music floated through the early morning light, Water Protectors sang and uplifted the Native-led struggle to protect Anishinaabe territory, sacred wild rice, and stand with Mother Earth. Line 3 poses a 10% expansion of tar sands production; tar sands is the dirtiest fossil fuel on earth.
The location is near the proposed crossing by Line 3 through the Shell River, one of many river crossings sought by Enbridge, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Last weekend, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar visited the Mississippi headwaters and the Giniw Collective encampment, one of several along the route.
Many of the Water Protectors onsite traveled from the northeast to act in solidarity with Anishinaabe peoples here in Minnesota.
Tyler Schaeffer said, “I’m profoundly concerned about the future of life on our planet and my deepest desire is for future generations to grow up safe in a world that hasn’t been wrecked by greed and shortsightedness. Where water is clean to drink. Where we’ve come back to balance and honor the earth as sacred. It’s time we follow the lead and wisdom of indigenous peoples with humility and courage.”
Reina Palm, a teacher from mid-coast Maine, said, “I am here first and foremost to follow indigenous leadership. I am 24 years old and my whole life I have felt the pull and beauty of our world and home. I remember being 4 years old and learning about climate change and the destruction of land and peoples and being deeply frightened. It is only becoming more urgent and necessary to act. Line 3 travels through so many wild lands, waters, and indigenous homes. It draws a clear picture of destruction in its path. I know it is easy to feel vulnerable, scared, tired, and discouraged. But together we can with the power of community and love, stop line 3.”
Noah McKenna, a landscaper from Massachusetts said, “When government fails to honor treaties and ensure a just transition, we must act directly. I am honored to put my body on the line in solidarity with indigenous resistance to protect mother earth and all of our futures. Together we can stop line 3!”
Jay O’har, a Quaker from Portland, ME, said, “As a person of faith I am moved to action by a call from indigenous leadership to protect the water and defend treaty rights from a government corporate power that continue to perpetuate the false doctrine of discovery and supremacy. For me this is a call to shared liberation to stop Line 3 and build a new relationship to the earth and among all people.” Jay continued, “Our group is here to follow indigenous leadership, defend life, stop line 3, and embody as much love as possible. We are a network committed to climate action and racial justice. We follow BIPOC leadership whenever we can and practice reparations.”
Ethan Hughes said, “I have two daughters and I care about all children’s future. I will do anything I can to protect life while following BIPOC leadership. Risk aversion leads to great harm.” Ethan continued, “I was a marine biologist and educator when I saw the ocean collapsing, I became a water protector. I also follow indigenous leadership because they hold and have fought to protect for 100s of years a wisdom much more profound than science. A wisdom humanity desperately needs at this time for our collective survival and liberation. I am also here for my daughters and all children. Line 3 represents the destruction of the Mississippi watershed, breaking the treaties, oppression of indigenous people, speeding up the climate crisis, and sixth mass extinction. It is time to risk everything for love and justice. Together we will stop line 3.”
Briana Halliwell, a Quaker from New England Yearly Meeting, said, “I travelled from Maine to stand in solidarity with the indigenous peoples of northern Minnesota in resistance to the Line 3 Pipeline expansion that cuts through hundreds of miles of Anishinaabe treaty territory. I am here to life up the voices of the people, animals, landscapes, and watersheds whose voices have historically been unrecognized, erased, or not understood by the patriarchal dominant culture of separation and white supremacy that founded this country and continues to destroy, not honor or create life.”
Erin, a farmer and educator from Massachusetts, said, “I am here as an act of love for my godkids and the land that raised me. I am here to do all I can to give our communities a chance to survive and to minimize suffering. I am here as a small step to address the devastation caused by white settlers and to the native peoples of this place. Line 3 is one of the largest fossil fuel pipeline projects in the world, and is slated to carry tar sands oil, polluting MN and adding to the devastation of the climate chaos. I am here because stopping line 3 is one of the highest impact things we can do to address climate chaos and uphold US treaties. Together we can stop line 3.”
Dan Truesdale of Southwest Michigan said, “I am here to stand in solidarity with indigenous leadership to honor the earth. We need climate justice and racial justice now and together we will stop line 3.”
Shawn Gregory, a community worker from Southeast Texas, said, “I just care so much about the health of people who I love, especially my nephew and future generations. I don’t want to live with regret, so I have to act in whatever way I know how to stop Line 3 and follow the leadership of indigenous communities. Together we will stop line 3.”
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Over 50 Water Protectors walk onto Line 3 Pipeline easement, two lock themselves to an excavator laying pipe

cross-posted from Camp Migizi

Over 50 Water Protectors walk onto Line 3 Pipeline easement, two lock themselves to an excavator laying pipe

Contact: media@resistline3.org

(FOND DU LAC) On Tuesday afternoon, two water protectors locked themselves to an excavator laying pipe on an Enbridge worksite near Cloquet, MN. They marched onto the easement with over 50 activists, shutting down construction on the Line 3 tar sands pipeline for much of the work day.  The group, led by Anishinaabe warriors from Camp Migizi, then gathered at a sacred site, which has been desecrated by the pipeline’s construction, to pray.

In the words of one of the people who locked themselves to the construction equipment, Charles King, “Our state laws are not working in the public interest and for the public good. We are endangering future generations… and that’s got to stop.” The other water protector locked to the excavator, a Fond Du Lac band member, declined to comment, saying that their actions speak louder than their words.

Since construction began in November of 2020, Line 3 has been met with growing resistance from Indigenous water protectors and allies on the frontlines. Just last night, another water protector who leapt onto a section of pipe suspended over a trench, delayed construction for over seven hours before being extracted by the police.

On the political front, State Representative Ilhan Omar made a visit to the pipeline’s easement on Saturday to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities resisting the pipeline. Nationally, although President Biden recently revoked key permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, he has not taken a clear stand on Line 3, another tar sands pipeline that would be catastrophic for the climate and Indigenous sovereignty.

Line 3 violates the Treaty Rights of Anishinaabe peoples by endangering critical natural resources in the 1854, 1855, and 1867 treaty areas. It has also been decried by Indigenous communities for its role in the ongoing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. This demographic is put at risk for sex trafficking by the presence of “man camps,” the temporary worker housing used for pipeline construction.

For more information, contact Camp Migizi on Facebook or email media@resistline3.org. High resolution photos and interviews with movement leaders available on request.

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Water Protector Climbs onto Section of Line 3 Pipeline to Prevent Damage to Pipe

cross-posted from Camp Migizi

Water Protector Climbs onto Section of Line 3 Pipeline to Prevent Damage to Pipe

[FOND DU LAC] Late Monday afternoon, three water protectors were arrested for blocking construction of Line 3. Two of the protestors were arrested while blocking the entrance to the site, while the third, Jeff Nichols, climbed onto a section of the pipeline dangling over a trench. Jeff sat on the pipe for nearly five hours, preventing workers from putting the pipe onto frozen sand bags which would have damaged the structural integrity of the pipeline.

In a Facebook livestream from Camp Migizi, a water protector camp based out of Fond Du Lac, Jeff shared that he felt compelled to act when he saw the workers were about to put the pipe into the ground onto frozen sand bags. In the livestream, it was also shared that OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, put out a mandate ordering Enbridge to not use frozen sandbags, as they force the pipe to bend, causing fractures and leading to spills.

On the livestream, Jeff can be heard saying, “It’s not even a question. This one will leak. The sandbags are frozen. You guys have already received violations for that” while other protestors shouted “all pipelines leak.”

Line 3, if built, would cross over 200 hundred bodies of water in Northern Minnesota, including the Mississippi River. Enbridge itself is responsible for numerous oil spills in Minnesota, including the largest ever inland oil spill in North America when nearly 1.7 million barrels of crude oil spilled in Grand Rapids.

For more information, contact Camp Migizi on Facebook.

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