Serving the community since 1903
VOLUME 120 | ISSUE 25
WEEK OF JUNE 22, 2023
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Brighton trucker offers a message Suncor pollutes and sanctuary for indigenous women into nearby
neighborhoods more often than similar facilities BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN
Elizabeth Johnson with her son Bruno and grandchildren Bruno Jr. Ximena and her dog Delilah standing by her semi-truck. Photo by Belen Ward
Elizabeth Johnson’s HoChunk Trucking spreads message about murdered, missing women BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
You might see Elizabeth Johnson’s semi-tractor trailer traveling the U.S. interstate highways — especially between Winnebago, Nebraska and
Brighton, Colorado. And if you do see it, there’s no way you can miss her message. The entire trailer carries the simple direct message — Stop killing indigenous women. Starting in 2017, Johnson — a member of the Ho-Chunk Tribal Nation of Nebraska — has spread that message. “My message as a woman is, if any woman sees this semi-truck and needs help, me and my dog Delilah will help you to safety. Knock on my semi-truck door,” Johnson said. Estimates say there are 506 cases
of missing or murdered indigenous women across the country. That’s likely an undercount due to bad data, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. Of the 506, 128 of the women are considered missing while 280 were known murdered. Another 98 are cases of unknown status, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. A study from the group that surveyed 71 police stations and one state agency found that 5,712 missing and murdered Indigenous cases
The Colorado regional office of the EPA vowed tougher enforcement action against Suncor in Commerce City, issuing a report showing the refinery releases air pollutants into nearby neighborhoods more often than many similar facilities around the U.S. Suncor logged more excess releases of sulfur dioxide-laden tail gas than any of 11 comparable refineries from 2016 to 2020, according to the Region 8 EPA study. Sulfur in tail gas is meant to be recovered to cycle back into the refining process to avoid potentially toxic emissions. Suncor’s Commerce City refinery also had the second-highest number of excess hydrogen sulfide releases, or acid gas, among the same group of refineries, according to the EPA analysis, which was conducted with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment using federal recovery act funds. SEE POLLUTION, P12
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