Tag: Line 3

On the Anniversary of a Catastrophic Oil Spill, Water Protectors Rally Against the Line 3 Pipeline

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cross-posted from Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com
March 3, 2021
More than 70 Peaceful Protesters Cited, 1 arrested*
On the Anniversary of a Catastrophic Oil Spill, 75 Water Protectors Rally Against the Line 3 Pipeline
(GRAND RAPIDS, MN) Today, a crowd of 75+ water protectors commemorated the 30th anniversary of the largest inland oil spill on Turtle Island (so-called North America). 30 years ago today, on March 3rd, 1991, the Line 3 pipeline ruptured spilling over 1.7 million gallons of oil near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Water protectors are rallying against Enbridge’s Line 3 expansion to stop the pipeline and ensure that an oil spill like that never happens on Indigenous land again.
The 1991 oil spill flowed into Prairie River, a tributary of the Mississippi that flows into the river near its sensitive headwaters. Oil made it half a mile away from the Mississippi, but the thick sheet of ice covering the Prairie River stopped the oil from flowing further than that. With a changing climate and a constantly warming planet, we may not have been so lucky if the spill had occured today. Since 2002 alone, Enbridge has reported 307 oil spills to federal regulators, totaling 2.8 million gallons of oil. The 1991 spill, not included in that figure, spilled more than half as many gallons as Enbridge has reported since 2002.
Water protectors marching today stand in solidarity with the right to live and thrive for all people. As one water protector at the rally said, “with the approaching trial of Derek Chauvin, we uplift the interconnectedness of the struggle to protect treaty rights, clean waters, sacred space and Indigenous sovereignty with the right of all people to live in a world free of oppression and destruction of the earth”

Wadena, MN: Three Water Protectors Lock Inside Line 3 Pipeline Segment

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 16, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com
(Wadena, MN) Tuesday morning, 3 water protectors locked to one another inside of a Line 3 pipeline segment near the Crow Wing River while dozens more rallied in support.
As water protectors sang and danced for the river, those locked inside the pipe lifted up the struggle of Indigenous peoples and the voices of future generations not yet born.
The location is near the proposed crossing by Line 3 through the Crow Wing River, one of the frozen rivers Enbridge applied to drill under and was denied.
Multiple tribally-led lawsuits are yet to be heard as Enbridge works non-stop to bulldoze Line 3 through Anishinaabe territory and the hundreds of wetlands and water bodies that lie in its path. The route is through an area untouched by tar sands infrastructure, as Enbridge plans to build a new corridor for its lines.
Ariee Shaw said, “There are two sides in this fight against Line 3. Those protecting water, land, food, and Indigenous sovereignty. And those protecting corporate greed and earth’s destruction. I’m locking down today because I know what side I’m on.”
Jack Keenan said, “I am locking down in solidarity with the Anishinaabe, the Wet’suwet’en, and all people whose survival is threatened by so-called “critical infrastructure.” To risk the health of waterways and wild rice beds in service of fossil fuel extraction is insanity; to disregard the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples is genocide, plain and simple.”
Rae said, “My name is Rae. I am in northern “MN” fighting the Line 3 pipeline. When I am not here, I am a student at Macalester College. I have taken classes on white supremacy, colonization, and capitalism at Macalester. It markets itself as a place engaged with social justice yet is invested directly in the financial industries behind Enbridge’s Line 3. As we put our bodies on the line, Macalester’s hypocrisy is palpable. Macalester produces performative allyship. The only tangible way I have found to actively engage in anti-colonial work is by distancing myself from capitalism, following Indigenous wisdom of Giniw Collective, and engaging in direct action to Stop Line 3.”
Felix said, “Line 3 is carving a path of death and destruction to sacred water, ecosystems, relationships, and the Indigenous people who steward these lands. It affect all of us — anyone who drinks water. We must protect the land, honor the treaties, and stop Line 3. Extractive industries serve the white man’s greed and have no accountability to the wild and sacred. To this — we say no more. We all have a role in this fight. So find yours, be in solidarity with each other, especially with Indigenous land and Water Protectors.”

Eight Water Protectors Arrested on Line 3 Worksite During Polar Vortex

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cross-posted from Camp Migizi

[FOND DU LAC, MN] Despite frigid temperatures, pipeline construction in Northern Minnesota continues to be met with active resistance from the growing movement to stop Line 3. Tuesday morning, two water protectors were arrested in Fond du Lac while locking themselves to construction equipment in what felt like -26 degree weather. They were joined by nearly 30 other water protectors who occupied the site, 6 of whom were arrested in an ongoing escalation of police response to frontline protests.

In the words of Ezra Waskey, one of the water protectors who locked themself to machinery, “What is happening here is colonization; what is happening here started in 1492 and it never stopped. We are here on the Enbridge destruction site, putting our bodies in the way of this horrendous act, to stop Line 3!” The other water protector who locked themself to the construction equipment, Dylan, said that they were doing this to “Honor Indigenous lifeways and leadership because everything must change. Kill the Black Snake.”

As the water protectors bared the cold, their actions blocked construction of the Line 3 tar sands pipeline for over three hours. One of the water protectors there said, “We are putting our own bodies at risk because we know we must. By building this pipeline Enbridge is endangering all life on this planet, and even the lives of their own workers.” Just last week, an Enbridge worker was put into critical condition after his machinery broke through the ice near La Salle Creek, submerging him in freezing waters.

As the water protectors were leaving the construction site following a police dispersal order, 6 other water protectors were also arrested. We spoke with an organizer from Pipeline Legal Action Network who shared that, “Recently we’ve seen law enforcement escalating their response to water protectors on the frontlines of this movement. They’ve threatened the use of less-than-lethal weapons on protestors on numerous occasions and set exorbitantly high bail and restrictive conditions of release from jail. The arrest of 6 water protectors today is a tragic yet anticipated continuation of this trend and is something we expect to see going forward.”

A press release from the Movement to Resist Line 3. For more information, contact Camp Migizi on Facebook or email media@resistline3.org. High resolution photos and interviews with movement leadership available on request.

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

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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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