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Its
already rusted, unpainted poles reach up to 140 feet up in the
air. Some are placed not more
than 20 feet from the living room windows of farmhouses. And in between them is strung a
massive 345,000-volt power line which emits a loud buzzing sound,
scrambles TV reception, causes baby monitors to malfunction, and many
fear, cancer causing radiation.
This
is the Arrowhead-Weston power line, a massive bulk transmission line
being built by the American Transmission Company to allow it to sell
cheap hydro dam generated electricity from Manitoba to the lucrative Chicago and southeastern Wisconsin market. ATC is a for profit corporation that
has founded for the sole purpose to build this line, and make as much
money as possible from it.
Towards that end it has bribed dozens of local and state
government boards, used eminent domain to seize the land of over 850
farmers and other landowners, and has spent literally millions in
advertising and pressure campaigns to blackmail local residents who
have the audacity to question why they should sacrifice their land,
quality of life, health and local environment for a for-profit line
that wont’ benefit them in the least.
Welcome to northwestern Wisconsin – scene of a series of
dramatic struggles between a corporate leviathan and a determined group
of local farmers, workers and students.
It
all began more than 5 years ago when ATC came into existence and
announced the plans for the Arrowhead-Weston line. Following the construction of a
series of massive hydroelectric dams in Manitoba, which reversed the flow of
several rivers there and in the process, totally destroyed the
livelihood and social fabric of the Cree who lived there, the
corporations involved decided that they needed a market for their newly
generated cheap electricity.
They looked south, and saw that they could make a killing by
underselling existing electricity producers in the Chicagoland
area. All they needed was a
massive bulk transmission line and the profits would be theirs.
During
the next five years the corporate heads of ATC, despite having to deal
with some protests put on by a persistent and pesky group of farmers
called SOUL (Save Our Unique Lands), were pleasantly surprised by how
easy it was to bribe their way through numerous County Boards, school
districts, airport authorities, and other government bodies like the
Department of Natural Resources.
Before long they had “permission” to build on land for
practically the entire length of their proposed line – from
northeastern Minnesota to Wausau, WI. They even had permission to build in
wetlands and string their massive 345,000-volt lines over the scenic,
and allegedly government protected, Namekagon River. All that remained was to get
permission to build on a stretch of public land in one county in
northwestern Wisconsin – Douglas County.
At
the beginning of the power line project the American Transmission
Company had approached the Douglas County Board for permission and had
been rejected, largely because some of SOUL’s
activists were members of the Board.
But ATC took its rebuff in stride. They proceeded to spend the next few
years lining up the other area counties, and successfully defeating SOUL’s efforts to get the DNR, Public Service
Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, and other government bodies to
stand up to the proposed health, safety and environmental nightmare of
a power line.
SOUL
activists pointed out the potential cancer risks of the line, the
damage construction would pose to wetlands and area roads. They pointed out the safety risks,
like how one would be electrocuted by simply raising a hoe above their
head within a certain distance of the line, or by driving a tractor
under the line unless the farmer had a chain dragging behind it to
ground the tractor.
They
brought dramatic pictures of how when hundreds of florescent light
bulbs were laid under a similar line in Britain they all lit up, even
though they weren’t plugged in! And
they pointed out again and again how unfair it was this for-profit line
whose electricity wouldn’t even be accessible to local residents, was
getting a free ticket to destroy so much area farmland and scenic
property.
Hundreds
of angry farmers turned up at DNR, Army Corps of Engineers, and other
government hearings. Farmer
after farmer would stand up to give inspiring, often tear inducing,
testimony about why this line needed to be stopped. But in the end the government
officials would simply wait till the end of the hearings, take the
millions in “donations” from ATC, and give the corporation whatever
permits it needed.
Defiant Douglas County was beginning to became a very isolated place. Right across the state line south of Duluth, MN ATC was bold enough to
begin construction of the line on the belief that soon Douglas County would be forced to
fold. They were also, no doubt,
hoping to give the impression that the line was going up no matter what
– that it was unstoppable.
Adding
to the pressure, soon, you couldn’t turn on any radio station in
Duluth/Superior and not hear an ATC advertisement every ten minutes
berating the Douglas County Board for not taking the “tax relief” that
ATC was offering, and even insinuating that unless the line was approved
local businesses could face blackouts (never mind the fact that none of
the ATC line’s power would even go into the local grid).
Under
all of this pressure some of the Douglas County Board began to
buckle. Doug Finn, the president
of the Board, began hinting that it was time to negotiate. One board member began to make
laughable claims about how many residents were writing to him pleading
for the power line. And ATC began
to run ads saying that if the County Board didn’t give in soon, it
would reroute the line around public land and use eminent domain to put
the line on the land of over 60 additional landowners.
The
stage was set for an epic battle.
The determined farmers of SOUL, together with Youth for
Socialist Action and other student activists picked up the gauntlet and
prepared for a showdown. SOUL
and YSA activists called a rally to be held on the day of the County Board meeting that the question
would be voted on. Fliers were
delivered door to door to hundreds of houses in the County. Hundreds more went up at local bars
and taverns, found their way onto car windshields and were plastered
all over local campuses. Local
radio shows, email lists, word of mouth, and every other means of
getting the word out were also employed to their fullest extent.
Then
Feb. 2, the day of reckoning came.
At 4:30pm 100 protesters, mostly young people, gathered outside
the Douglas County Courthouse to greet Board members as they arrived
for their 6pm meeting. To honks
of passing motorists the protest set the tone for the rest of the
evening.
As
the time for the Board meeting approached more and more people filed
into the Courthouse. Before long
the County Board meeting room was filled to capacity, and the
Courthouse lobby filled up with opponents of the line – about 250
people in all.
For
five hours the meeting raged.
Despite the fact that the people in attendance were
overwhelmingly opposed to the line, the County Board insisted on
alternating between supporters and opponents of the line. Speakers in support of the line were
supplied by ATC and the local Chamber of Commerce. They were a marked contrast to the
everyday farmers, workers and students who spoke against it.
And
all the while the testimony went on a determined band of YSA members
marched, for the entire five hours of the meeting, around and around
inside the courthouse holding signs calling on the Board to stand firm.
It
was a tense five hours. At one
point an angry farmer, Rick Davey, stood up
and yelled "My life is being put on the line for a couple of
bucks! That's bull ----!"before he was
dragged out by sheriff's deputies.
In
the end though, it all paid off.
In a very dramatic and close finish the County Board voted 15 to
11 to say no to the power line and to refuse to allow it to be built on
public land. Cheers reverberated
throughout the Courthouse as hundreds rose to their feet to clap,
embrace one another, and wipe away tears.
“I’ve
been fighting this line for five long years” one older woman said as
she embraced and thanked a student activist.
Given
the enormous amount of power and money at the hands of corporations,
and the subservient, spineless nature of most government officials,
victories such as this one are unfortunately far too rare. But fighting is not, and never will
be hopeless. In the end working
people do indeed have the power to literally move mountains. But it takes determination, and a
refusal to be deterred by the betrayals and failures of politicians.
The
fight against the Arrowhead-Weston power line is not over. ATC is already claiming this decision
means little to them, and that they will reroute their line onto more
farms instead. But a victory is
a victory, and more than that, it has given the farmers, workers and
students who defeated ATC on the evening of Feb. 2 that confidence to
continue to fight and see this through to the end. Forward ever, backwards never!
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