{"id":8411,"date":"2021-03-01T13:10:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T18:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=8411"},"modified":"2021-03-01T14:15:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T19:15:09","slug":"indian-country-today-energy-company-in-denial-about-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/03\/01\/indian-country-today-energy-company-in-denial-about-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Country Today: Energy company in &#8216;denial&#8217; about trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1099\" data-attachment-id=\"8417\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/03\/01\/indian-country-today-energy-company-in-denial-about-trafficking\/enbridge\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/enbridge-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1099\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"enbridge\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/enbridge-1024x439.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/enbridge-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"enbridge\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8417\" \/>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Sections of pipe await placement near Grand Rapids, MN for the Enbridge Line 3 project.  Photo by Mary Annette Pember \/ Indian Country Today <\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Sex trafficking sting nets Enbridge pipeline workers<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Monday, March 1, 2021<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Mary Annette Pember <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mapember\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/a><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indian Country Today<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-website\"><a href=\"https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/\">indiancountrytoday.com<\/a><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSeven men arrested during a sex-trafficking sting in northern Minnesota have been charged with solicitation, including two workers for an Enbridge pipeline contractor.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe arrests brought renewed calls for fighting sex trafficking along the Canadian company\u2019s Line 3 project, which stretches through northern Minnesota on its route from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThose arrests aren\u2019t surprising but it\u2019s very sad when what you\u2019ve been warning about for years actually comes to light,\u201d said Sheila Lamb of the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women\u2019s Task Force.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe two pipeline workers \u2013 one from Texas and one from Missouri \u2013 were employed at the time of their arrests by Precision Pipeline, an Enbridge contractor based in Wisconsin.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We have currently trained 3,369 employees to spot the red flags and call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Commit to training yourself and learn about our program here: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zoD8hqBYBR\">https:\/\/t.co\/zoD8hqBYBR<\/a><br> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HumanTraffickingAwareness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HumanTraffickingAwareness<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TruckersAgainstTrafficking?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TruckersAgainstTrafficking<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PrecisionPipeline?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PrecisionPipeline<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H6yu1e5hWW\">pic.twitter.com\/H6yu1e5hWW<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Precision Pipeline, LLC (@PrecisionPL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PrecisionPL\/status\/1349005985386536960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 12, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn a statement sent to Indian Country Today, Precision wrote, \u201cThe two workers were terminated immediately when the company learned they had violated our zero tolerance for illegal behavior.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nEnbridge also confirmed that two workers were among those arrested.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cEnbridge has zero tolerance for illegal and exploitive behavior,\u201d the company said in a statement emailed to Indian Country Today. \u201cSuch behaviors from anyone associated with this project will not be tolerated and are immediate grounds for dismissal.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe sting was conducted February 17-19 in Itasca County by a Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force led by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions in coordination with the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking Task Force, known as TRUST, and the Itasca County Sheriff\u2019s Office.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nPipeline opponents have long warned that the Line 3 project would increase incidents of sex trafficking, citing reports that show correlations between extractive industries such as mining and pipeline construction and sex trafficking.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<figure>\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"657\" data-attachment-id=\"8423\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/03\/01\/indian-country-today-energy-company-in-denial-about-trafficking\/defendthesacred\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/defendthesacred.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1400,657\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"defendthesacred\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;The water protector educational event in Palisade, MN featured a puppet show. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/defendthesacred-1024x481.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/defendthesacred.jpg\" alt=\"defendthesacred\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8423\" \/>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">The water protector educational event in Palisade, MN featured a puppet show.  Photo by Mary Annette Pember \/ Indian Country Today<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nA <a href=https:\/\/www.colorado.edu\/program\/fpw\/2019\/03\/14\/new-report-finds-increase-violence-coincides-oil-boom>2019 report by First Peoples Worldwide<\/a> at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a <a href=https:\/\/www.state.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/272964.pdf>report by the U.S. State Department<\/a> have shown that areas in which extractive industries operate experience higher rates of sex trafficking.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cWe testified in 2016 during the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission hearings that the Line 3 project would absolutely increase sex trafficking,\u201d Lamb told Indian Country Today.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Undercover operation<\/div>\r\nThe men were arrested during the three-day sting after talking with undercover agents on what law enforcement officials described as \u201csex advertisement websites.\u201d The men were arrested when they arrived at an arranged meeting place for sex, according to officials.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nSix men were charged with solicitation of a person believed to be a minor. Another was charged with solicitation to engage in prostitution and with carrying a pistol without a permit, officials said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThey were booked into the Itasca or Pennington county jails.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<a href=https:\/\/www.duluthnewstribune.com\/news\/crime-and-courts\/6901823-2-arrests-in-human-trafficking-sting-were-Line-3-workers>The Duluth News Tribune<\/a> reviewed the criminal complaints and identified two men as workers for Precision Pipeline: Matthew Ty Hall, 32, of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Michael Kelly West, 53, of Rolla, Missouri\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHall was charged with solicitation of a person believed to be a minor. West was charged with solicitation to engage in prostitution and with carrying a pistol without a permit, according to law enforcement officials.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">2 arrests in human trafficking sting were Line 3 workers<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7iFjYwbvth\">https:\/\/t.co\/7iFjYwbvth<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Duluth News Tribune (@duluthnews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/duluthnews\/status\/1364378593174953985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 24, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAccording to the Duluth News Tribune, West said in a statement given at the Itasca County Jail that he worked for Precision Pipeline and had arranged to buy sex because he was 1,000 miles from home.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe complaint said that West told officers he learned about the website from rumors at work and began texting an undercover officer posing as an underage girl named \u201cJasmine.\u201d When he said he did not want to have sex with a minor, the undercover officer arranged for a fictitious older sister to meet him for sex for $100, the newspaper reported.\r\n<P><\/p>\r\nHe was arrested when he arrived for the meet-up. Officers found a loaded handgun in his vehicle for which he did not have a permit, the paper reported.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHall also responded to an advertisement, and expressed concerns that Jasmine was reportedly 16 years old, the Duluth News Tribune reported, citing the complaint. He told the undercover officer that he was worried the advertisement was part of a sting, but agreed to meet up anyway.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nHe was arrested after driving several times by the meeting house.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Awareness training falls short, critics say<\/div>\r\nWhen Lamb and other advocates again raised concerns about sex trafficking and Line 3 earlier this year, Enbridge spokespersons rejected their concerns.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cEnbridge absolutely rejects the allegation that human trafficking will increase in Minnesota as a result of the Line 3 replacement project; Enbridge will not tolerate this exploitation by anyone associated with our company or its projects,\u201d the company wrote in a <a href=https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/is-sex-trafficking-inevitable-along-enbridge-pipeline-route\/600007769\/?refresh=true>statement to the Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWhile seeking permits for the pipeline route, Enbridge developed and implemented a Human Trafficking Prevention Plan in cooperation with several tribal and state entities. In addition to requiring that all workers receive human trafficking awareness training prior to beginning work on the project, the plan also included development of an awareness campaign called Your Call Minnesota (<a href=http:\/\/yourcallmn.org\/>yourcallmn.org<\/a>).\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div style=\"padding:42.5% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/434115338?title=0&#038;byline=0&#038;portrait=0\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Your call: <a href=https:\/\/vimeo.com\/434115338> End human trafficking<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nJason Goward, of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe and a former employee of Precision working on Line 3, told Indian Country Today that his sex-trafficking awareness training consisted mainly of watching a 20-minute film, \u201cOur State. Their Lives. Your Call,\u201d and a short presentation presented by Truckers Against Trafficking, a nonprofit organization that provides sex trafficking awareness training for the trucking, bus and energy industries.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201c<a href=https:\/\/yourcallmn.org\/>Our State. Their Lives. Your Call<\/a>,\u201d was created through a collaboration with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force and Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST).\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nLamb said that Minnesota\u2019s proactive work on sex-trafficking work and legislation, such as the creation of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women\u2019s Task Force, contributed to the success of sting.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nLamb lauded the work of law enforcement in the sting, but she questioned Enbridge\u2019s commitment to combatting sex trafficking.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThese trainings are great but you\u2019re not going to change the perpetrator\u2019s behavior by having them watch a video,\u201d she said.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cEnbridge needs to overcome their disconnect and denial over sex trafficking.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<HR><EM>Mary Annette Pember, a citizen of the Red Cliff Ojibwe tribe, is a national correspondent for Indian Country Today. Follow Pember on <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/mapember>Twitter @mapember<\/a>. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pember loves film, books and jingle dress dancing.<\/em><HR>\r\n<P><\/p>\r\nThis article originally <a href=https:\/\/indiancountrytoday.com\/news\/sex-trafficking-sting-nets-enbridge-pipeline-workers>appeared on Indian Country Today<\/a> LLC, a nonprofit, public media enterprise. ICT does not charge for subscriptions and tribal media (or any media, for that matter) can use the publication\u2019s content for free. <a href=https:\/\/support.indiancountrytoday.com\/>Contribute to the nonprofit<\/a> Indian Country Today.\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThose arrests aren\u2019t surprising but it\u2019s very sad when what you\u2019ve been warning about for years actually comes to light,\u201d said Sheila Lamb of the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women\u2019s Task Force.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,11,13,1],"tags":[1232,101,121,284,1140,129,1234,130,381,197,1233,453,408],"class_list":["post-8411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canada","category-environment","category-law","category-national","tag-alberta","tag-crime","tag-employment","tag-energy","tag-fond-du-lac","tag-ict","tag-jason-goward","tag-mary-annette-pember","tag-minnesota","tag-mmiw","tag-sheila-lamb","tag-trafficking","tag-wisconsin","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/01\/enbridge.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-2bF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}