We will be attending tomorrow night’s (August 20 at 7 pm) Brandon Township Board of Trustees meeting, where we expect them to once again take up the issue of whether to give consent to Enbridge for their work within the township limits. Many of you know that we have written about the “local consent” issue before, in more ways than one. That issue is tremendously important both in terms of preserving local authority and autonomy– especially given the astonishing willingness of state and federal agencies to give Enbridge a free pass at every turn– and as yet another measure of how well (or how poorly) Enbridge lives up to its own publicly stated policy of “respecting the national and local laws of the countries and communities where we operate.”
Brandon Township supervisor Kathy Thurman and her board have shown real leadership in this area. Enbridge claims that they do not need to seek local consent. But sooner or later, that claim is going to need to be tested (most likely in court). For that reason, the more attention Brandon’s actions receive the better. We hope to see you there and we hope you will bring with you your local and state elected officials and your friends and contacts in the news media!