From: Ann Christenson <annfchris@gmail.com>
Subject: Water Protectors
Date: October 5, 2016 at 5:21:40 PM CDT
Lee County Attorney Mike Short:
Among other things, the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution prohibits interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. The original, and in many ways the most important, purpose of the right to assembly and of freedom of speech and press is that they afford citizens an opportunity to criticize government—favorably and unfavorably—and to hold public officials accountable for their actions.
In approving the eviction of the Mississippi Stand Camp, Lee County is abrogating the rights of peaceful assembly. These Water Protectors through peaceful assembly are putting their lives on the line for the safety of our Mighty Mississippi and by extension, all waterways in Iowa.
When I was a child visiting Keokuk from Texas, my uncle, Charles “Chuck” Hogle, was very active in boating, racing and water activities on the river. That was 70 years ago. Look at the river now. The degradation of all Iowa’s waterways is deplorable.
For Lee County to knuckle under to a corporation that is willfully riding rough shod over this state is unconscionable. Big Oil pipelines pollute our air and water. They blight farmland. They destroy historical sites and recreational areas. They trample Native American rights. All for what? For corporate profit and more profit.
Do you know that within the past 12 months some 143,000 gallons of crude oil spilled on a beach near Santa Barbara, California. Nearly 90,000 gallons leaked into the Gulf of Mexico in May. More than 20,000 gallons in the San Joaquin Valley a few weeks later, added to the 21,000 gallons spilled from the same pipeline last year. And a few weeks ago, nearly 30,000 gallons of crude oil gushed from a ruptured pipeline near a beach in Ventura, California.
Can we afford this kind of thing in Iowa? Are we prepared to handle the inevitable spill?
And now Lee County is in obedient readiness to obey any command or fulfill any wish of Big Oil Dakota Access. How sad. How tragic.
Let the Water Protectors be. I joined them Saturday and found a peaceful, dedicated, well organized group. They are there to save the Mississippi for you, your children and your grandchildren. You should be thanking them, not evicting them. They are exercising their democratic rights for all of us.
Sincerely,
Ann Christenson
827 Dearborn St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
319-337-0549