The Keystone XL pipeline has been a source of contention in Washington D.C. and across the midwest. That fight came to Kirkland Monday morning as about 40 protesters assembled at the Kirkland offices of the Michels Corporation, a contractor helping to build the pipeline.

The pipeline would transport oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. but many, including the protesters, dispute its environmental safety.

Organizer Carlo Voli planned to hand a letter to the company’s Vice President Tim Michels as a part of the protest. But the offices were closed and the doors for the complex were locked. The building also houses Lakeside-Milam Recovery Center.

The Reporter could not reach company officials for comment.

“We want to demand a stop to the production of the Keystone Pipeline,” said Voli. “They decided to close down the office because they don’t want to show their face.”

Many of the protesters carried signs and the group chanted as they marched from their meeting point at the Bridle Trails Park and Ride to the offices across 116th Avenue Northeast. Many of the protesters dressed as the Grim Reaper.

The biggest sign had a gigantic black fist coming up out of oil with tarsandsblockade.org written at the top. Some of the signs protested the building of the pipeline, while others protested the use of fossil fuels altogether.

Michels, which is headquartered in Wisconsin, is building a portion of the pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma.

According to the protesters, “the Michels Corp. built the first Keystone I pipeline from Alberta, Canada to Cushing, Oklahoma, in 2010, and it leaked 12 times just in its first year.”

Voli spoke to the crowd and led them through protest chants with a portable PA system. They recited a message that was spoken last week at a protest in Massachusetts.

Voli said he would return on Tuesday to hand the letter to Michels. He said the letter also asks Michels to explore other business.

“It asks them to build more wind turbines and develop more renewable energy.”