When it comes to Enbridge lately, mostly we sit around waiting for the stretches of green steel pipe that dominate our backyard vista to somehow burrow their way into the ground– so that we can finally stop looking at them. Well, that’s not totally true. We’ve been trying to get some answers as to when construction might wrap up, so we can begin devising a tree-replanting plan. But we have been waiting to hear back from Tom Hodge with an update.
We’ve also been trying to get some more information regarding the Environmental Stewardship program that we’ve been told has finally been rolled out to all townships along the route. As soon as we have that information, you can bet we’ll tell you all about– so that you can begin thinking of ways to benefit your local areas. We’ve made some inquiries on related matters, too, but again are waiting–patiently, but a bit anxiously, at this point–for some responses. Why anxiously? Well, when days (or weeks) begin to pass without any replies, we start to remember the other times we’ve been brushed off by Enbridge folks (and the other other times).
But while we wait for those things, we thought we’d point you in the direction of some other interesting, and totally unrelated (to one another) matters:
- We are completely fascinated by (and filled with admiration for) the actions of the Red Lake Nation up in Northern Minnesota. They’re staging a blockade against a 60-year old Enbridge pipeline– a pipeline that was built on sovereign lands without permission. You can learn about the story here.
- Closer to home, we are very interested in a request from Bruce Township (over to our east) for some help from Enbridge treating their battered roads with limestone. Enbridge, apparently, has said they would take the request “into consideration.” We hope they will. As we have said from day one– we said it to to our own Township trustees (who dismissed us out of hand)– every township should be making these sorts of requests. Not only is it a chance for Enbridge to live up to their “good neighbor” rhetoric; it’s also completely reasonable that host communities should want to gain some benefit from being good faith partners with Enbridge– because Enbridge will most certainly benefit from it, in the form of millions of dollars.
- Lastly, if you missed it in our comments section, the good people over at The Hermitage retreat in Three Rivers are hosting a fascinating event later this month: “A Service of Lament and Hope along the Enbridge Pipeline” on Saturday, March 30, 2013 2-4 pm. The Hermitage is located at 11321 Dutch Settlement Road, Three Rivers, MI. They describe the event this way:
You are invited to express your sorrow, regret or disappointment over the new pipeline being laid by Enbridge. The public lament. . .will include a public confession of our complicity in the demand for oil, a prayer walk to the pipeline, public acts of mourning and despair, and conclude with a dance of hope.
Unfortunately, the drive to Three Rivers is probably a bit out of our range– but we’ll try and find some time that day ourselves for a bit of lamentation.
That is lovely, people of Three Oaks.
Yellowstone Pipeline company had a number of leaks on Flathead Nation, leading to them shutting that pipeline down. Yes, they can do it. Plus look at the blunder of adding a coyote to a newspaper ad by Yellowstone:
http://www.hcn.org/issues/54/1688/print_view
Tread carefully there, Endbridge, and learn from Yellowstone Pipeline’s blunders!
A map & date here:
http://www.hcn.org/issues/54/1688/
Also, be truthful about pipeline issues:
“When the Yellowstone Pipeline ruptured in Missoula back in 1992, for instance, a Conoco spokesman pegged the gasoline leak at a mere 50 gallons – vastly below official estimates of between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons – even as gasoline sprayed from a broken gasket on Raser Drive at a rate of about 250 gallons a minute.”
http://editorialmatters.lee.net/commentary/article_7afa6816-a9ad-11e0-b433-001cc4c03286.html
Oops.
Thanks for mentioning the Hermitage’s Service of Lament and Hope. One correction, it is just outside Three Rivers, not Three Oaks.
Oops! Fixed it, Kevin. Thanks.
In Re Hermitage Service of Lament and Hope:
The Hermitage appeared at the initial MPSC hearing and made a statement. They later sought to intervene. And then, at a subsequent motion hearing, withdrew as described in the following excerpt from the transcription of the MPSC hearing.
MOTION HEARING
Proceedings held in the above-entitled matter
before Theresa A. Sheets, J.D., Administrative Law
Judge with Michigan Administrative Hearing System, at
the Michigan Public Service Commission, Constitution
Hall, 525 West Allegan, Nisbet Room, Lansing, Michigan,
on Thursday, July 12, 2012, at 10:01 a.m.
JUDGE SHEETS: O.K. And it is my understanding that the Bodman firm is not appearing today.
O.K. The first thing that we are here today on are three petitions to intervene, one petition
to intervene by Jerry and Joanne Mains, who are represented by counsel, Gary Field; one petition to
intervene by Helen McCauslin as the trustee of the Joanne Holden Trust; and a third petition to intervene by The Hermitage, who were represented by Bodman, PLC. Prior to going on the record today, it’s my understanding that the Hermitage is withdrawing its petition to intervene at this time. And Mr. Kevin Driedger, spelled D-r-i-e-d-g-e-r, is here representing The Hermitage; his counsel will not be appearing. And Mr. Driedger, is that your understanding, that The Hermitage will be withdrawing its petition to intervene?
MR. DRIEDGER: Yes, it is.
JUDGE SHEETS: And you indicated you would like to give your reasons for withdrawing.
MR. DRIEDGER: I would, yes. Thank you. My name is Kevin Driedger, and I am the chair of the board of The Hermitage Community, Incorporated, which owns and operates The Hermitage, a retreat center near Three Rivers, Michigan, and I ask that you bear with me briefly.
I want to tell you of some of the things we will be doing in the coming days at The Hermitage. In a couple weeks, people will be gathering from all over for our annual Hermitage jam. It is a day when people who care about The Hermitage come to help tend to this place, but most importantly, it is a day when people grab buckets and go to pick blackberries from our abundance of wild blackberry bushes. It has been a hot and dry summer and the blackberries are plentiful but small, yet they will be made into the best blackberry jam we’ve ever had.
And the next day more people will gather for our annual celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration. People will join together in prayer and silence and reflect on Christ’s transformation and how we are being transformed through Christ. And each day before and after these events, The Hermitage staff and volunteers will welcome guests and fellow pilgrims and provide a welcoming room, nutritious meals made with locally grown produce, the daily rhythm of morning prayer, spiritual direction and trails to walk and explore, all in a natural and supportive environment. It is a place set aside for silence and prayer, and we will keep doing this as we have done for the past 25 years.
And next year, when machines start rolling down the pipeline and a wide swath of our land and its vegetation and habitat is destroyed, we will morn and we will probably shed some tears. We will be saddened by the ridiculous destruction of our land for more oil; but we will also look for ways to respond to this destruction with creativity and life.
I have told you what we will do. What The Hermitage and its board and staff and friends will not do, however, is to participate any activities or legal procedures which we feel do not lead to hope or to life, and so I am withdrawing our petition to intervene and do not intend to pursue this matter any further.
In closing, I hope that the state and that Enbridge will treat The Hermitage and all property owners affected by this proposed pipeline with justice and fairness. Thank you.
JUDGE SHEETS: Thank you. And your counsel, Mr. Hupp, has been advised that you’re withdrawing?
MR. DRIEDGER: He has been, yes.
JUDGE SHEETS: All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Driedger. So the petition of The Hermitage to intervene is withdrawn, and they will not be intervenors in this matter.
Cut and dried.
I am not a religious person by any means, but this brief statement sums up the despair many feel when confronted by obviously predetermined outcomes.