January 17, 2013
Terrance Nelson 'We can stop all trains in Canada'
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| Rail Blockade Jan. 16, 2013 |
'Not one Toothpick'
By Terrance Nelson
First Nation Roseau River Ojibway
Chief Fox,
Yesterday, our small group of fifty delivered a
notice to Business Canada. CN had obtained an injunction on Monday, the
day previous to the railway blockade. CN only delivered that notice to
us later on yesterday. I got a copy only after a CN Cop picked up a copy
from the ground and handed it to me. We had already started to leave
the area. Although the injunction is not legal, we left the blockade
after we made our point. The point is clear, we can shut down the
economy.
In 2007, I won a decision against an injunction that
was sought by CN. This time their lawyers did not provide notice to us
and went to court obtaining the injunction without giving us notice of
the injunction or a chance to appear. CN's title comes from the
government but the government gets their title from the treaty. When
Harper passed the Bill C45 legislation, he nullified the title of CN.
Only the treaty guarantees immigrants rights in our lands. In 2007, I
went to court and asked Judge Kennedy, how can you give CN an
injunctiion against us being on our own land, Kennedy said, CN has
title, I asked where did they get title, Kennedy said from Government,
so I asked, where did the Government get their title. He went silent and
asked, do you have documentation. Of course we did. We gave him a huge
amount of documentation.
The doctrine of discovery cannot be upheld in court.
We are batting nearly 100% of the land court cases. We win because all
the immigrant rights come from Treaty. If the treaties are nullified by
Harper legislation, CN, CPR, Enbridge, TransCanada and all immigrant
right to access in our lands are endangered.
We can stop all trains in Canada if we had to. If we
are forced to do this, our slogan will be Not one toothpick. Jody
Wilson Raybould is quoted in the Globe and Mail against blockades. The
British Columbia First Nations want Treaty Negotiations and lumber is
50% of the economy of British Columbia but if bloodshed occurs in
Canada, Not One Toothpick will be sold to the Americans. There is 2
billion dollars worth of trade a day between Canada and United States.
We do not want to be on blockades, we are forced to be there by the
Harper legislation.
We need to contact the Americans. They are not our
enemy, they can dictate to Harper. The economy of Canada is tied to the
United States.
On Tuesday January 22nd and Wednesday 23rd, you will
be in Winnipeg with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs summit. We want a
resolution authorizing action on the Treaties. If the immigrants who
get all their rights from Treaty are jeopardized by the legislation by
Harper, we will be in legal position to take action to stop all railway
lines.
The three prairie provinces are the most powerful
areas for protest by First Nations. The Biggest Railway Lines and
Pipelines are all in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We have the
ability to bring down the Canadian economy and Americans need to wake up
to Harper and his dangerous policies.
We delivered the notice yesterday by blocking CN. IF
CN tries to sue us or continue to confront us, they will lose all
rights to cross our lands. We can stop them if we had to. We don't want
to but we maybe forced into this. A resolution at the Summit by AMC next
week is needed to legalize a response by the Treaty Nations.
We are there if the Chiefs want action. According to
the attached documentation. CN probably lost ten million dollars
yesterday. They will need a few days to catch up to the delays from
yesterday. IF they sue us, they should also sue Harper because it is the
Harper legislation that caused this. I will abide by the injunction for
now but I will appeal the injuction. The Judge never allowed us to
appear and we will take him to task for his decision. He has no clue
about his legal obligations to the treaty rights of immigrants in our
lands. We will revoke those immigrants access rights if we have to and
as the judge did, we will do so without notice to the immigrants. We do
need to be reasonable but Harper is stupid if he thinks that this is
over.
The immigrant court already put their injunction in
place without our input. Next week, the Chiefs have a chance to put in
place a resolution authorizing blockades if Harper continues to
unilaterally change the conditions of treaty without our input. The hell
with providing them notice, if they feel they have the right to impose
their laws upon us without our input. IF CN didn't get that message
yesterday, they will if they continue to ignore the conditions of
treaty.
Navajo Robyn Jackson 'Coal Mine Produces Poison, Not Sovereignty'
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| Ash ponds close to Chaco Wash |
Coal Mine Produces Poison, Not Sovereignty
By Robyn Jackson
Censored News
While considering the proposed transfer of ownership of BHP’s
Navajo Mine, we should start by asking ourselves why BHP is offering to sell at
this time. If we were to thoroughly examine, we would see that coal mines all
over the country are being phased out. In 2012, Alpha Natural Resources closed
8 mines. Coal is in fact, in decline. California and other state and city
governments are working towards transitioning to renewable energy sources.
Considering all this, you might think that BHP’s executives
are trying to relieve themselves of a no longer profitable mine, which also
involves numerous egregious liabilities that will certainly lead to billions of
dollars in remediation and reclamation. For instance, there is the matter of
coal ash. After power plants have burned coal, they are left with the ash that
is often disposed of in dry landfills or mixed with water and contained in
holding ponds. Some might say, “Isn’t this just harmless ash?” The truth is, coal ash often contains
seventeen toxins, if not more, including heavy metals and radioactive elements like radon, thorium
and uranium. A report by the Physicians for Social Responsibility has
found that ingesting these toxicants, whether through eating, drinking or
inhaling, can cause cancer and affect the nervous system creating cognitive
deficits, developmental delays and behavioral problems. Data by the EPA has
also found that living next to a coal ash disposal site can increase your risk
of cancer and other diseases.
So what does Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) do with their
coal ash? We know that from 1971 to 2008, generated coal ash was dumped in
unlined mine pits, covered only by topsoil at Navajo Mine. Yes, for nearly 40
years BHP was accepting toxic waste as backfill. In 2008, BHP stopped accepting
coal ash and FCPP now has holding ponds, west of the facility to store the ash.
Given the height and width of these ponds, the term pond seems inadequate. As of 2009, one of these
embankments had a height of
170 feet. That’s the same height as a 17 story building and this is just one
part of the holding site for wet coal ash. An operation of 50 years of burning
coal should amount to a great deal of waste. In fact, FCPP has generated over
100 million tons of coal ash and most of it is on the Navajo Mine site.
As mentioned, the
coal ash dumped at Navajo Mine is unlined. This makes the toxins in the ash
much more susceptible to leaching into above and underground waterways, rivers,
aquifers and drinking wells. Additionally, these toxins can travel in the
environment from erosion and runoff and as fine particles or dust. There are
examples of communities who have been adversely affected by coal ash and its
contamination of their water supply.
Coal ash disposal sites have been quarantined as no longer safe for
people due to high levels of toxins. The most famous incident of a coal ash
catastrophe was the 2008 TVA Kingston, Tennessee, coal ash spill. A holding
pond containing 40 acres of coal ash failed, spilling into a river valley that
included homes. Now that area has two contaminated rivers and homes that residents
were forced to sell to the Tennessee Valley Authority, who owned the plant. As
of 2011, the TVA has estimated the total cost of cleanup at Kingston to be 1.2
billion dollars. Interestingly, the TVA is largely able to make this payment
through higher electric bills to their ratepayers. Such a great example of how
responsible these companies are.
Then again, as
Pat Risner, President of BHP NM Coal stated in a December 2012 letter to the
Durango Herald, “There are different views on what corporate responsibility
entails.” Exactly what BHP considers
their responsibility needs to be clarified. Currently a reclamation or
remediation plan for CCW by BHP is nonexistent. Which means, who exactly is
liable for paying for clean-up? What if the unlined coal ash on Navajo Mine
site leached out? Is BHP thinking that the Navajo Nation should clean that up
itself? After 50 years of Navajos providing cheap electricity for others and
allowing BHP to make huge profits, is that really all they can say to us? Think
about it. In 2011, they made a profit of 15 billion on total revenues of 70
billion. They are, after all, the biggest mining company in the world.
The Navajo government can ill afford to take on clean-up
costs that amount to over a billion dollars.
As it is, a 2010 report has found levels of boron and selenium
downstream from the FCPP coal ash ponds are higher than upstream levels. These
downstream levels are two times over what is safe for aquatic life. There is
more evidence that coal ash has saturated the ground in Area I of Navajo Mine,
parallel to the San Juan River. Another study determined that coal ash
constituents, including selenium are making their way into the San Juan River
ecosystem. The evidence is undeniable and frightening.
Of course, BHP wants nothing more than to leave behind this
mess. Have we forgotten that BHP is a business, with the sole purpose of making
a profit? But for our communities and our nation, this is more than just some
area to make money off of. We have a relationship and long history to this
place. This is our home. This is our land, our air and our water.
As our stories explain, we were put here by the Holy People.
We were told that this would be our home to take care of. Most are aware that
we have sacred mountains that designate our boundaries, but the major rivers
that surround our territory are also sacred and act as boundaries: like the San
Juan, which represents the male water that is said to protect and look after
our people. In the traditional Navajo view, rivers serve as energy sources
which our ceremonies, prayers and chants are tied to. Included in these
ceremonies, prayers and chants are the many plants and animals that make up the
southwest landscape and the Navajo universe. We are taught that the well-being
of all these creatures and the ecosystems that support them, including our
mother (earth) and father (sky), is linked to our overall well-being and
spiritual health as Diné.
Exactly how does 50 years of water, air, and soil
contamination fit into our traditional view? Is it really okay that coal mining
and coal combustion has disrupted so many lives? I would like to know how this
translates into tribal sovereignty, as the Shelly administration stated in a
Farmington Daily Times article last month. What precisely is the long-term plan
of the Shelly administration and the council delegates? Power plants are
closing down all over the country. Four Corners is one of the oldest. Its
engineers will tell you that they have to continually jump start the thing
because it’s constantly falling apart. If the tribal government is really
thinking that they will turn around and sell Navajo Mine coal to the operators
of the Four Corners Power Plant, that is without a doubt very limited planning.
APS recently announced that they are shutting down three units, which means a
direct reduction in coal demand for that facility.
What’s more, is this really all our tribal government can
come up with? Why lock ourselves down this path that has ill served our people
as a whole? There are other alternatives, like solar and wind. There is
potential, as a 2008 report: Energy and Economic Alternatives to Desert Rock
spelled out. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to take a path that is much more in
line with our traditional beliefs of sustainability, respect and reciprocity?
Or are we going to continue down a path of increased pollution and social and
environmental injustice?
Hidden Camera: Border Patrol removes migrant blankets, food, during freezing temps
Border Patrol Agents Remove Blankets, Humanitarian Supplies from Desert Amid Record Low Temperatures in Southern Arizona
By No More Deaths
January 17, 2013
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
French translation by Christine Prat http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/
Tucson, AZ- A hidden camera video released by Tucson-based humanitarian organization No More Deaths shows an agent of the U.S. Border Patrol removing clean blankets and food intended for migrants in distress. The January 8 video captures a Border Patrol agent on a desert trail near the town of Arivaca, Arizona, about 12 miles north of the international border. The agent stops, opens a plastic bag surrounding dry blankets and canned food, inspects the contents, and then leaves, removing the life-saving provisions. Between January 9 and 15 temperatures in southern Arizona dropped to historic lows, and the blankets and food are provided by humanitarian organizations to prevent death and illness due to these extreme temperatures. The January 8 video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Says No More Deaths Medical Advisor, Dr. Norma Price: “We know that hypothermia can be equally dangerous as dying from heat stroke in the summer. This month has been one of the most severe that Arizona has ever had. There is no question, people are crossing in the desert and their lives could be saved if they were given blankets and warm clothing.” During Fiscal Year 2012 the remains of 178 people were recovered from the southern Arizona desert.
In May 2012 another hidden camera video caught Border Patrol agents vandalizing caches of life-saving water. Video of this incident aired on July 20, 2012 on PBS’ Need to Know program, as part of a series highlighting abuses committed by agents against migrants in their custody (the May 2012 can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In an effort to prevent the cruel deaths and suffering commonplace in the U.S./Mexico borderlands, No More Deaths and other humanitarian aid organizations provide food, water and emergency medical aid to individuals in distress. It is shocking to see Border Patrol agents sabotaging these efforts, instead of helping to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe that U.S. border enforcement strategy has itself unleashed.
Contact: Sarah Launius
Cell Phone: (520) 240-1641
Email: media@nomoredeaths.org
No More Deaths is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization that provides direct humanitarian assistance to women, men and children lost, injured or ill while crossing through the Arizona desert. More than 6,000 people have died along the border since 1998. In October 2011 No More Deaths published A Culture of Cruelty, which documented thousands of abuses, including assault, humiliation and medical neglect committed by Border Patrol agents against individuals in their custody. The report also includes recommendations for clear, enforceable custody standards with community oversight to ensure compliance. Read more at www.cultureofcruelty.org
January 17, 2013
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
French translation by Christine Prat http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/
Tucson, AZ- A hidden camera video released by Tucson-based humanitarian organization No More Deaths shows an agent of the U.S. Border Patrol removing clean blankets and food intended for migrants in distress. The January 8 video captures a Border Patrol agent on a desert trail near the town of Arivaca, Arizona, about 12 miles north of the international border. The agent stops, opens a plastic bag surrounding dry blankets and canned food, inspects the contents, and then leaves, removing the life-saving provisions. Between January 9 and 15 temperatures in southern Arizona dropped to historic lows, and the blankets and food are provided by humanitarian organizations to prevent death and illness due to these extreme temperatures. The January 8 video can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Says No More Deaths Medical Advisor, Dr. Norma Price: “We know that hypothermia can be equally dangerous as dying from heat stroke in the summer. This month has been one of the most severe that Arizona has ever had. There is no question, people are crossing in the desert and their lives could be saved if they were given blankets and warm clothing.” During Fiscal Year 2012 the remains of 178 people were recovered from the southern Arizona desert.
In May 2012 another hidden camera video caught Border Patrol agents vandalizing caches of life-saving water. Video of this incident aired on July 20, 2012 on PBS’ Need to Know program, as part of a series highlighting abuses committed by agents against migrants in their custody (the May 2012 can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
In an effort to prevent the cruel deaths and suffering commonplace in the U.S./Mexico borderlands, No More Deaths and other humanitarian aid organizations provide food, water and emergency medical aid to individuals in distress. It is shocking to see Border Patrol agents sabotaging these efforts, instead of helping to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe that U.S. border enforcement strategy has itself unleashed.
Contact: Sarah Launius
Cell Phone: (520) 240-1641
Email: media@nomoredeaths.org
No More Deaths is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization that provides direct humanitarian assistance to women, men and children lost, injured or ill while crossing through the Arizona desert. More than 6,000 people have died along the border since 1998. In October 2011 No More Deaths published A Culture of Cruelty, which documented thousands of abuses, including assault, humiliation and medical neglect committed by Border Patrol agents against individuals in their custody. The report also includes recommendations for clear, enforceable custody standards with community oversight to ensure compliance. Read more at www.cultureofcruelty.org