As construction on Line 3 pipeline nears completion, Water Protectors halt work at new pump station in ongoing campaign of resistance
FLOODWOOD, MN—Early last Friday morning, more than 50 water protectors staged a non-violent direct action to shut down construction of the Gowan North pump station on the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. They blockaded both entrances to the pump station with striking blockades. At one gate, someone ascended a tripod, blocking the entrance road. The Gowan North pump station is one of the last active construction sites on the pipeline route, and is a new facility intended to increase the capacity of Line 3. By midday, police had begun arresting peaceful water protectors at the site.
One water protector who risked arrest blockading the entrances to the pump station had this to say about their actions: “Enbridge’s Line 3 is a continuation of the genocidal exploitation of indigenous people and extraction of natural resources that has been occurring for hundreds of years. It has never stopped, and this pipeline is part of what it looks like today. As a person of European descent it is my responsibility to fight for decolonization.”
Another said, “As a white-passing Mi’ kmaq person, I’ve felt my entire life like my identity was divided. I strive to unify that division, not just within myself, but within this entire nation. I am here today to stand with my indigenous family, to stand for my ancestors, and to stand for the earth as she is being brutally ravaged by these pipelines and a myriad of other atrocities.”
A third water protector risking arrest to Stop Line 3 said, “I’ve worked as a public health nurse for six years, and Line 3 is at the intersection of multiple public health crises. It contributes to the genocide of Indigenous people through the violation of treaty rights and destroying the land that many living on reservations rely on, and by the man camps leading to missing and murdered Indigenous woman and children. It will significantly escalate the climate crisis. Tar sands oil creates more CO2 emissions, these pipelines consistently leak and burn.”
Construction of the Line 3 pipeline, owned by Canadian company Enbridge, has drawn fierce resistance over the past nine months, with over 700 people having been arrested for taking nonviolent direct action to halt work since December. Despite facing repression through the use of chemical weapons and felony theft charges, Water Protectors protectors have continued to resist construction on the frontlines, as well as through litigation and grassroots organizing compelling elected officials to take action.
(Story and photo courtesy of Resist Line 3 Media Collective. Contact: media@resistline3.org or 406-552-8764)
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August 26, 2021