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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KINDER MORGAN PROTESTS SPREAD SOUTH OF THE BORDER AS KAYAKERS SURROUND OIL TANKER

30 people are in boats surrounding an oil tanker inbound from BC to Kinder Morgan’s Seattle facility

Seattle, WA - A flotilla of 30 kayakers are surrounding a Kinder Morgan tanker in the Seattle Harbour on its way to Kinder Morgan’s terminal. The boaters are flying a “Stop Kinder Morgan” banner and say they are opposing the company’s reckless transport of tar sands crude oil through British Columbia and Washington waters.  

Inspired by the wave of recent Kinder Morgan protests north of the border, today’s action is the latest escalation in a growing protest movement to demonstrate the threats this pipeline poses to the West Coast with more demonstrations planned on Coast Salish territories (Burnaby, British Columbia) all next week.   

“We refuse to let Kinder Morgan turn our Salish Sea into a fossil fuel super-highway. Their operations are already unacceptably dangerous. The last thing we need is to make matters 700% worse. Such a massive increase in oil tanker traffic would not only jeopardize communities in BC, but in Washington as well. Kinder Morgan is a threat to us all,” Zara Greene, Mosquito Fleet.  

Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tanker project has sparked widespread opposition on both sides of the US-Canada border, including legal action asserting the sovereignty of First Nations and most recently, a wave of public protests and civil disobedience in British Columbia.   

“Today’s action is happening in solidarity with yesterday’s arrest of 28 water protectors as they demonstrated against Kinder Morgan in Burnaby, BC. We will continue to support our indigenous allies in British Columbia — and in San Francisco, where they are fighting Phillips 66’s effort to expand their refinery to receive and process Canadian tar sands.” Matt Krogh, Stand.earth   

The Mosquito Fleet is a network of concerned citizens who use their bodies and boats to demand the Pacific Northwest stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure and transition to safe, renewable energy sources. They stand alongside communities that depend on the water for their livelihood, including indigenous communities of the Salish Sea, labor unions, fisher-people, and families. https://mosquitofleet.us/

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CONTACT:

Garrett Blad: Mosquito Fleet Media Coordinator
garrettblad@gmail.com
(513) 808-6395 

Matt Krogh: Stand.earth (Matt is in a kayak on the water)
360 820 2938 

Sven Biggs, Stand.earth
778 882 8354