Tired of Shell’s pollution and excuses from local politicians?
How many more toxic events must we endure from the Shell Plant?!
Join the Shell Accountability Campaign on Thursday, June 8 at 9am in Irvine Park in Beaver, PA for our first in-person rally since the toxic Shell plant came online. We’ll deliver our petition with more than 50k signatures to Shell, hear from local leaders, make clear our demands that Shell must immediately stop poisoning us and the Ohio River Valley, and celebrate our community.
WHAT: Rally for Action: Stop Shell’s Pollution!
WHERE and WHEN:
9 AM: Irvine Park at 9am for the rally 10 AM: Commissioners meeting in the Beaver County Courthouse
After the meeting we will reconvene at the park!
Donuts and coffee from local businesses will be provided! Feel free to bring your own sign!
EVENT INFO:
PLEASE NOTE: This event occurs outdoors with an indoor option. The rally will be primarily outside, so please dress for potential inclement weather. We will send an update with the predicted forecast closer to the date.
• This is a kid-friendly and encouraged event; please note that childcare will not be provided. • Both locations are wheelchair accessible. • Street parking is available; there is also a parking garage across from the park/courthouse • The rally will take place outside, the Public Meeting meeting is indoors in the County Courthouse. There is limited capacity indoors – more information will be provided about the indoor meeting shortly. • Masks are not required inside the Courthouse (this is a building rule) but we ask all attendees to mask as Eyes on Shell is committed to public health and community safety • We will have free face masks available at our outdoor meeting point. • For more information about COVID-19 in Beaver, please visit the Beaver County Regional Council of Governments website
A new film, On Sacred Ground, amplifies the critical message of Indigenous waterkeepers at Standing Rock—that water is life.
In 2016 began one of the largest and most visible protests of environmental injustice in U.S. history, on the Standing Rock Reservation, home to thousands of Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota peoples of the Oceti Sakowin Nation. It was then that the company Energy Transfer began construction there of a segment of the $3.8-billion Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile underground transportation route for Bakken crude oil that stretches from western North Dakota to southern Illinois. Routed in close proximity of the Standing Rock Reservation, and beneath critical water resources including the Lake Oahe reservoir on the Missouri River, the pathway of the pipeline poses a direct threat to the lives of Indigenous peoples on the Standing Rock Reservation and all tribes within the Missouri River watershed.
Filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell traveled to the front lines to witness the protests and would later produce the film On Sacred Ground, to help amplify the messages of Indigenous peoples and water protectors harmed by environmental injustice. The Dakota Access Pipeline was unfortunately built and has been operational, despite its poor track record of frequent spills that threaten lands and waterways, incompatibility with addressing the climate crisis, and ongoing and current legal challenges. During the protests, which unfolded on the frontlines in Standing Rock and in court, in addition to causing environmental damage, the construction disturbed sacred burial and cultural sites and led to excessive force used against those advocating for the end of pipeline construction.
At Standing Rock, I learned from our Indigenous brothers and sisters that water is life. It was a big wake-up call to me to realize that the majority of society ignores this most basic yet essential tenant.
– Filmmaker Josh Tickell
On Sacred Ground Film Portrays Standing Rock Protest
Indigenous communities in Standing Rock and across the U.S. face insecurity when it comes to their health and the safety of their water resources. Indigenous peoples—Earth’s original stewards—have long been targeted by governments and the polluting industries that they permit and subsidize to bear the disproportionate burdens of industrial pollution. As a result, Indigenous and other underserved communities experience severe impacts to their emotional and physical health, as well as harm to their cultures and livelihoods. Some of the biggest perpetrators of such environmental injustice are corporations producing, processing, transporting, storing, selling, and disposing of plastics and fossil fuels—plastics’ primary ingredients.
On Sacred Ground conveys these messages, and is based on actual events that occurred during the 2016 construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The film follows a journalist and military veteran named Daniel (William Mapother), and oil company executive Elliot (David Arquette), who navigate opposing sides of the contentious pipeline’s construction and what would ultimately become one of the most visible Indigenous-led protests in modern U.S. history.
To help amplify Indigenous-led efforts for environment justice and spread awareness of the need to protect water and Earth, filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell invite schools and Indigenous communities to screen On Sacred Ground for free.
New developments are expected as years of legal battles are leading to a new environmental impact statement on the pipeline to be released in spring 2023. According to Nick Tilsen, Oglala Lakota and President and CEO of the NDN Collective, “The Dakota Access Pipeline is currently operating illegally without a permit, putting safe drinking water at risk.” Last year, NDN published a report outlining the dangers and injustices of the pipeline, and how it was built, and why it must be drained and shut down permanently.
Indigenous communities in the Missouri River Watershed and around the U.S. continue to advocate for access to clean, reliable, unpolluted waters free of the risk of development, fossil fuel spills, and other injustices. Learn more about some of the Indigenous frontline communities and groups now advocating for change, listen for calls to action, and offer your support and allyship, here.
Ending plastic pollution and embracing just, equitable, regenerative solutions is a pathway to clean water and safety for all. More fossil fuel and plastics development will only drive more destruction and injustice. Learn about the facts and solutions to plastic pollution, and take action today.
3
Toxic plastics, fossil fuels, and chemicals are often produced, transported, stored, and disposed of, just out of sight or in ways you might not notice. Past and recent train-related plastic and petrochemical accidents, including the recent freight train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, have shed unfortunate but necessary light on the hazards of moving highly flammable and toxic materials by rail.
Yet, railways are just one piece of the toxic trail of plastics, fossil fuels, and related chemicals that pollutes the planet and our bodies. These dangerous materials and substances are also frequently shipped by heavy-duty trucks, cargo ships, airplanes, pipelines, and other vessels, and are produced, stored, and disposed of in ways that constantly threaten the health and safety of people and the environment.
Transportation Arteries are Clogged By Toxic Plastics and Fossil Fuels
The tangled web of toxic transportation arteries is extensive globally. Serious accidents are unfortunately common, especially in the United States, where little regulation currently exists on how and where these dangerous substances and materials can be shipped, and what happens after an accident.
Plastics, fossil fuels, and related chemicals are highly flammable and often volatile, especially when mixed, leaked, or ignited during transportation accidents. When released, these materials and substances are not easily contained. This can cause life-threatening fires, explosions, spills, leaks, and all manner of serious short- and long-term pollution. And, like all plastics and fossil fuel industry activities, movement of plastics and fossil fuels is also a serious contributor to the climate crisis.
A smaller but still significant number of accidents occurred in 2022 involving air and water transportation of dangerous cargo, leading to dozens of immediate injuries and several fatalities. What’s more, at least 469 incidents involving natural gas and other hazardous liquid pipelines were recorded last year, causing three-dozen combined injuries and fatalities across the U.S.
Plastics, Fossil Fuels, and Chemical Byproducts are Dangerous When Stored and Disposed
The industrial infrastructure that’s been built up to produce, store, and dispose of plastics, fossil fuels, and related chemicals, is another vast and dangerous part of this toxic trail.
At the other end of the plastics pipeline are facilities storing and disposing of plastic wastes—including landfills, incinerators, illegal dumps, and plants claiming to sort, recycle, or “chemical/advanced recycle” plastics, specifically those accepting hazardous wastes. Transport and transfer hubs, including those where plastics, fossil fuels, chemicals, and wastes are loaded to travel along the plastics pipeline, are often contaminated and are common sites for spills of plastic pellets (nurdles) and chemicals, and pose serious fire dangers.
Plastics and Fossil Fuels Drive Severe Environmental Injustice Along their Toxic Trails
People living in predominantly Black, Brown, Indigenous, rural, and low-income communities are particularly impacted by the toxic trail of plastics, fossil fuels, chemicals and wastes. These underserved populations are disproportionately forced to live in proximity to plastics and fossil fuel production, disposal, storage, and shipping along railroad tracks, highways, shipping ports, and pipeline routes.
Sadly, underserved communities such as Mossville, and Diamond, Louisiana, have been, and continue to be, destroyed by pollution and subsequent buy-outs by plastic- and fossil fuel industries. The U.S. also continues to ship plastic waste to other countries, driving serious injustice overseas, particularly in the Global South.In addition, workers tasked with monitoring and managing hazardous substances are at high risk of toxic exposures and fatal accidents like explosions.
It’s not just people but also the Earth that suffers from industrial pollution and accidents, as well as every living being that calls this planet home. Water runs through the veins of living beings (including humans!), and through the veins of the planet, constantly moving through watersheds and weather systems.
As many Indigenous peoples have long emphasized, without water, there would be no life. We are losing healthy, safe waters—and also losing our health and innate connection to the planet—more every day to this buildup of artificial transportation arteries carrying plastics and fossil fuels. Loss of clean water is an emergency in the U.S. and around the world. Now, not only are there plastics and chemicals contaminating Earth’s waterways, but these toxins are also found in human veins and bloodstreams.
Stop the Toxic Trail of Plastics and Fossil Fuels
There is no safe way to produce, transport, store, or dispose of plastics, fossil fuels, related chemicals, and their wastes. These hazardous industrial activities and substances are directly tied to industries’ production of plastics and plastics’ petrochemical ingredients, and they create a toxic trail that poses a danger to people and the planet. Plastic pollution is a human health, social justice, environmental, climate, and wildlife issue, and a planetary crisis.People and communities across the world are finally waking up to the fact that plastic pollution impacts everything.
We can achieve a world without plastic pollution but we need to build a bigger, more powerful grassroots movement to do it.
How can you help? That’s easy! Just register for the upcoming Beyond Plastics Trainings for Local Groups and Affiliates to learn practical and powerful ways to end plastic pollution and engage your larger community.
This online training is divided into two sessions that are each two hours long. You must complete both sessions, but you can attend them in any order you wish, and they are each offered twice to ensure you can find a time that works with your schedule.
We will cover the following:
Plastics 101 – Your background and guide to the plastics crisis, how it evolved, and what changes are necessary to solve it (spoiler alert: those changes are regulatory!);
Ready, set, action! – How ordinary people can make legislative change. Figure out who your elected representatives are, what powers they hold, and how to meet with them;
Essentialmedia skills, such as how to hold a press conference, draft a strong news release, and write a letter to the editor that will get published;
Grassroots organizing skills, including organizing constituent meetings and call-in days;
Community education, such as how to host a virtual panel event; and
Many more skills and strategies you can use to make any campaign more effective.
Are you in?
Please choose the two dates below that work best for you and click below now to register via Zoom, then add the log-in information Zoom provides to your calendar.
Atencion hispanohablantes
Si necesita una traducción al español, envíe un correo electrónico a Megan a meganwolff2@bennington.edu.
Session 2: The ABC’s of Activism
Please choose whichever one of the two dates below works best with your schedule and register now via Zoom. PLEASE CHOOSE ONLY ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW.
Each session uses a different link. Once you’ve registered via Zoom, don’t forget to add the two trainings to your calendar.
Please note: These trainings are geared toward people in the United States, where Beyond Plastics has deep experience with policy change. People from other countries are welcome to take part, but we most likely will not be able to support you in seeking regulatory change in your own country. We also regret that we cannot offer translation in languages other than Spanish at this time.
We can achieve a world without plastic pollution but we need to build a bigger, more powerful grassroots movement to do it.
How can you help? That’s easy! Just register for the upcoming Beyond Plastics Trainings for Local Groups and Affiliates to learn practical and powerful ways to end plastic pollution and engage your larger community.
This online training is divided into two sessions that are each two hours long. You must complete both sessions, but you can attend them in any order you wish, and they are each offered twice to ensure you can find a time that works with your schedule.
We will cover the following:
Plastics 101 – Your background and guide to the plastics crisis, how it evolved, and what changes are necessary to solve it (spoiler alert: those changes are regulatory!);
Ready, set, action! – How ordinary people can make legislative change. Figure out who your elected representatives are, what powers they hold, and how to meet with them;
Essentialmedia skills, such as how to hold a press conference, draft a strong news release, and write a letter to the editor that will get published;
Grassroots organizing skills, including organizing constituent meetings and call-in days;
Community education, such as how to host a virtual panel event; and
Many more skills and strategies you can use to make any campaign more effective.
Are you in?
Please choose the two dates below that work best for you and click below now to register via Zoom, then add the log-in information Zoom provides to your calendar.
Atencion hispanohablantes
Si necesita una traducción al español, envíe un correo electrónico a Megan a meganwolff2@bennington.edu.
Session 1: Laying the Foundation
Please choose whichever one of the two dates below works best with your schedule and register now via Zoom. PLEASE CHOOSE ONLY ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW.
Please note: These trainings are geared toward people in the United States, where Beyond Plastics has deep experience with policy change. People from other countries are welcome to take part, but we most likely will not be able to support you in seeking regulatory change in your own country. We also regret that we cannot offer translation in languages other than Spanish at this time.
Join activists from around the country for a webinar to learn how Wall Street bankrolls fossil fuel sacrifice zones and how you can join in on efforts to stop it. Find out more about industry plans and community resistance in Ohio, Louisiana, and the Gulf South. Plug in, take action together, and send Wall Street a message: NO to More Sacrifice Zones!
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
