From Tar Sands Blockade
In response to the ongoing devastation from the Exxon tar sands spill in Mayflower, Arkansas a 79 year-old grandmother locked her neck to KXL heavy machinery and has halted construction for a few hours. This marks the third in a series of civil disobedience actions from Oklahomans who are part of the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance. Below is the press release they sent out this morning.
UPDATE 10:30AM: Nancy Zorn has been extracted by local law enforcement and taken into custody. Please consider contributing to Nancy’s bail fund.
ALLEN, OK – Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 9:00 AM – Oklahoma grandmother Nancy Zorn, 79, from Warr Acres, has locked herself to a piece of heavy machinery effectively halting construction on TransCanada’s Keystone XL toxic tar sands pipeline. This action comes in the wake of the disastrous tar sands pipeline spill in Mayflower Arkansas, where an estimated 80,000 gallons of tar sands spilled into a residential neighborhood and local waterways.
Using a bike-lock Zorn has attached her neck directly to a massive earth-mover, known as an excavator, which has brought construction of Keystone XL to a stop. Zorn is the second Oklahoma grandmother this year risking arrest to stop construction of the pipeline, and her protest is the third in a series of ongoing civil disobedience actions led by the Oklahoma-based coalition of organizations, Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance.
“Right now our neighbors in Arkansas are feeling the toxic affect of tar sands on their community. Will Oklahoma neighborhoods be next?” asked Zorn before taking action today. “I can no longer sit by idly while toxic tar sands are pumped down from Canada and into our communities. It is time to rise up and defend our home. It is my hope that this one small action today will inspire many to protect this land and our water.”