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1,000 signatures reached
To: Northland Board of Trustees
No Northland Enbridge Contracts
For signers: an email update has been sent to people who signed as of 4/22 at 8:13pm. People who signed after that time should consider emailing Spider Legs for an update.
The board of Northland College plans to sign an agreement with Enbridge Energy to house temporary pipeline workers on campus to work on the Line 5 reroute project around Bad River. They intend to sign the contract after a court decision challenging water crossing permits comes down on April 27. This dangerous decision would make the campus and the surrounding neighborhood unsafe.
We often think of man camps as trailers parked out in an oil field, but any time untethered male workers live en masse, the same problems crop up. Workers drop into communities where they don't have relationships and find they can act with impunity, hurting locals in the process.
We demand that Northland College make no contracts with Enbridge. The Northland College Board of Trustees should not provide housing, food, or other services to Enbridge.
The board of Northland College plans to sign an agreement with Enbridge Energy to house temporary pipeline workers on campus to work on the Line 5 reroute project around Bad River. They intend to sign the contract after a court decision challenging water crossing permits comes down on April 27. This dangerous decision would make the campus and the surrounding neighborhood unsafe.
We often think of man camps as trailers parked out in an oil field, but any time untethered male workers live en masse, the same problems crop up. Workers drop into communities where they don't have relationships and find they can act with impunity, hurting locals in the process.
We demand that Northland College make no contracts with Enbridge. The Northland College Board of Trustees should not provide housing, food, or other services to Enbridge.
Why is this important?
1) Construction man camps have a long recorded history of increases in sexual violence and trafficking, particularly against native women and girls.
Do we want an industry with a bad reputation for sexual violence to have a living space across from a middle school? Do the children or their parents know who’s arriving in the neighborhood they’re walking and playing in?
Can we allow the college to put native neighbors at risk in their own neighborhood?
2) Northland College made a commitment to sustainability as a foundation of the institution's mission statement. As a non-profit, the board of trustees has an obligation to uphold its mission.
Contracts with extractive industries that have a history of massively polluting the environment do not align with the values of Northland College. The board should consider..
Is the money worth the potentially irreversible damage to the Bad River watershed and all its living inhabitants, as well as the local water-driven economy?
3) Northland College has prided itself on building a relationship with the Bad River Band. We risk destroying those long-standing relationships by making any agreements with an extractive industry that has historically proven itself to be a bad actor in the area.
4) The city of Ashland is on the record as being in support of the Bad River Bands' right to remove Line 5 from their land. Does the city of Ashland know about this proposal to house Enbridge workers? What bout the public?
Let's stand in solidarity with Bad River and protect this land that we call home.
Do we want an industry with a bad reputation for sexual violence to have a living space across from a middle school? Do the children or their parents know who’s arriving in the neighborhood they’re walking and playing in?
Can we allow the college to put native neighbors at risk in their own neighborhood?
2) Northland College made a commitment to sustainability as a foundation of the institution's mission statement. As a non-profit, the board of trustees has an obligation to uphold its mission.
Contracts with extractive industries that have a history of massively polluting the environment do not align with the values of Northland College. The board should consider..
Is the money worth the potentially irreversible damage to the Bad River watershed and all its living inhabitants, as well as the local water-driven economy?
3) Northland College has prided itself on building a relationship with the Bad River Band. We risk destroying those long-standing relationships by making any agreements with an extractive industry that has historically proven itself to be a bad actor in the area.
4) The city of Ashland is on the record as being in support of the Bad River Bands' right to remove Line 5 from their land. Does the city of Ashland know about this proposal to house Enbridge workers? What bout the public?
Let's stand in solidarity with Bad River and protect this land that we call home.
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered to Todd Pydo, who will then deliver it to the board of trustees.