3 ATHENS COUNTY GRANDMOTHERS OUT ON $5k BAIL NEED SUPPORT

Proceeds that are not needed by our SE Ohio contingent will go toward the Line 3 resistance legal fund.

On July 2, SE Ohio elders Judy Smucker, Claudia Sheehan, and Anne Sparks blockaded an Enbridge Line 3 pipeyard near the Mississippi headwaters in northern Minnesota. Their action at Line 3 was supported by the Giniw Collective, as were 14 lockdowns and 28 arrests at another worksite the previous day. The three women, part of Athens County’s Future Action Network, have felony charges and bail set at $5000 each, with no 10% allowed. They are now home, sharing their story, and pursuing legal support. Over 500 Water Protectors have been arrested in the fight against Line 3. 

Please donate toward legal expenses for SE Ohio Water Protectors and Line 3 Legal Fund through Venmo or by check: 

Venmo: @Carolyn-Sheehan-10  (Add 3556 if prompted to. Make sure it’s the one with Carolyn’s photo of her smiling, wearing a pink vest, with Ridges/Radar hill in background.)

Checks, made out to Carolyn, can be sent to Carolyn Sheehan, 10666 Peach Ridge Rd, Athens, Ohio,  45701.

For tax-deductibility, checks for $200 or more can be made out to Buckeye Environmental Network (include in memo: “ACFAN water protectors”) and mailed to P.O.Box 824, Athens OH 45701.

Questions about donating? e-mail acfanohio[at]gmail.com

Line 3, an Enbridge pipeline, will carry as many as 900,000 barrels* a day of tar sands oil, the dirtiest fossil fuel, from Canada to the Great Lakes. Greenhouse gas emissions will be as much as from fifty coal-fired power plants. The new line being laid is crossing tribal lands against treaty rights as well as 200 bodies of water, affecting 800 wetlands and threatening Indigenous wild rice lakes and livelihoods. (*A barrel is 42 gallons, meaning 38 million gallons/day may flow through this pipe.) 

President Biden recently came out in support of Line 3. In an interview for Grassroot Ohio Radio on Friday, the three women urged people to contact Biden and demand he come to Line 3 to see what his decision and Line 3 are doing to the land, the people, the water, and climate. It was 94 degrees there the weekend of the grandmothers’ action.

Judy Smucker said, “I’m here as a Grandmother. I have grandchildren and a family I love. We are at a critical moment in history, a tipping point. Mother Earth is the heart of everything. She has given us all these gifts for free: clean water, clean air. We have to take care of mother earth as she takes care of us.” 

Claudia Sheehan noted, “Action is very important. Without action there is complacency, and with complacency we give the greed in the world a chance to grow. You have to stand up for your beliefs, you have to allow the spirit to move you. Take action. Find your spirit that’s going to guide you and go with it.”

Anne Sparks added, “Action is crucial now, and there are actions that everyone can take. Start learning. What is the connection between our everyday customs, habits, especially consumerism, and a pipeline threatening Native lands in Minnesota? That’s a connection we are taught not to see. So we have to learn and take action.” 

Follow Line 3 actions with @Giniw Collective on FB, Twitter, or Instagram.  Follow Athens County’s Future Action Network activities on ACFAN[dot]org and FB. ACFAN contact: acfanohio[at]gmail.com

Thank you for your support!