About a week ago, we launched a playful new series of strange items we’ve encountered recently. We kicked things off with a picture of the convenient wipes that are now available along the Kalamazoo River for cleaning the oil off of your skin and boat– such a thoughtful amenity!

Today’s item is weird in a totally different way. Since we began writing this blog and reaching out to landowners about eight months ago, we’ve met lots of wonderful, fascinating people and have experienced and done all sorts of things we never really imagined ourselves doing– some of them not that strange, like attending and speaking up at local township meetings; and some of them rather surreal, like eating midnight beignets at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans with oil pipeline executives (and various other eccentrics, like this guy).

But even that doesn’t compare to what we’ll be doing this week, along with two of our very favorite people we’ve met through all of this, Beth Wallace and Kim Savage. On Thursday, the three of us will be speaking at a meeting of the Michigan chapter of the International Right of Way Association. It’s true! No joke! Just look:

What will we say? We haven’t totally decided yet, but it won’t just be a repeat of our last presentation at the Pipeline Safety Trust conference. And in fact, we’re likely to say some things we’ve never even posted here. A long time ago, we made a conscious decision not to spend our time and energy on this blog beating up on ROW agents– even though we have heard plenty of stories of their bad behavior, stories that would curl your hair. And we have ourselves experienced a fair amount of unprofessional conduct and heard plenty of misinformation from them. Yet (as memory serves), we have never once called out a ROW agent by name (or even deed) here on this blog.

Partly, that’s because we do not get personal. But also it’s because Enbridge is ultimately responsible for the conduct and behavior of its ROW agents. Indeed, as far as landowners are concerned, the ROW agents that come to our houses ARE Enbridge; they are the company’s direct interface with landowners. So if and when they lie, intimidate, disrespect, misinform, misbehave, or otherwise fail to deal openly and honestly and cooperatively and protectively with and toward landowners– well, that’s Enbridge doing it– because Enbridge lets them do it.

So, it’s likely on Thursday that we’ll tell all of the ROW agents– primarily a bunch of good, honest, hardworking, professional people, we are sure– that some among them do lie, intimidate, disrespect, misinform, misbehave, or otherwise fail to deal openly and honestly and cooperatively with and toward landowners. And when they do, it reflects poorly on ROW agents in general. So perhaps their peers can help keep the bad actors in line in a way that Enbridge either can’t or won’t.

We will, of course, provide you with a full report of the proceedings.