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Bayou Bridge Pipeline

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Bayou Bridge Pipeline
Location
CountryUnited States
StateLouisiana
General directionLake Charles to St. James
FromLake Charles, Louisiana
Passes through11 parishes, 8 watersheds
ToSt. James, Louisiana
Runs alongsideCalcasieu, Jefferson Davis Parish, Acadia Parish, Vermilion Parish, Lafayette Parish, Iberia Parish, St. Martin Parish, Iberville Parish, Ascension Parish, Assumption Parish, St. James Parish
General information
TypeCrude oil
StatusOperational
OwnerEnergy Transfer Partners (70%)
PartnersPhillips 66 (40%), Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (30%)
OperatorBayou Bridge, LLC
Construction startedPhase I began in April 2016
ExpectedCompleted in April 2019
Technical information
Length162.5 km (101.0 mi)
Maximum discharge480,000 barrels per day
Diameter24 in (610 mm)
No. of pumping stations2
Pumping stationsJefferson Davis and St. Martin parishes

The Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP) is a 162.5-mile crude oil pipeline from Lake Charles, Louisiana to St. James, Louisiana by Bayou Bridge, LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners. Communities directly impacted by the pipeline voiced health, economic, and environmental concerns. They filed a lawsuit in opposition to the project and asked the Army Corps of Engineers for an Environmental Impact Statement. The Corps refused to do so and approved the project on 15 December 2017. Water protectors at L'eau Est La Vie camp consistently disrupted construction of the BBP for most of 2018, causing delays and millions of dollars in added cost to the project. They raised environmental justice and social justice issues and concerns about the pipeline's contribution to climate change. The pipeline was eventually completed in April 2019.

Description

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The Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP), is a 162-mile long 24” crude oil pipeline project through Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin. It crosses 11 parishes (Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish, Louisiana, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, and St. James Parish, Louisiana) and eight watersheds (Lower Calcasieu, Mermentau, Vermilion, Bayou Teche, Atchafalaya, Lower Grand, West Central Louisiana Coastal, and East Central Louisiana Coastal) to connect an oil-and-gas hub in Nederland, Texas with oil refineries in Louisiana. There are two pump stations in Jefferson Davis and St. Martin parishes.[1] It has a capacity of 480,000 barrels per day.[2] As of 2017, the planned cost for the pipeline was $670 million,[3] and the reported final cost was approximately $750 million.[2]

The project was permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.

The BBP complements other pipeline projects including the Dakota Access Pipeline to deliver Bakken crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries.[4]

Ownership

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In August 2015, Energy Transfer Partners LP had announced a joint venture with Phillips 66 (40%) and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (30%) to construct the Bayou Bridge pipeline, in which they would have a 30% interest.[4]

Project development

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With the 2015 joint venture, Phase I of the project began with the construction of a 30-inch pipeline from Nederland, Texas to Lake Charles, Louisiana. In April 2016, this pipeline went into service.[5]

Information meetings for the second phase of the BBP were held in January 2017, and manufacture of the pipes began in May 2017.[6] Construction was expected to be completed in early 2018.[5] The project met with opposition quickly;[3] by August 2017 several organizations had filed a lawsuit against the project and requested that the Army Corps provide an Environmental Impact Statement.[7]

Permitting for the pipeline was granted in December 2017, and construction began a few months later.

The pipeline was completed and transported its first oil in April 2019.[8]

Concerns

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Communities directly affected by the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP) have expressed broad concerns about the interconnected threats of human health, environmental pollution, and impact on the fishing industry. They have also voiced distrust toward the oil industry[9] in general and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) in particular.

An early concern voiced by opponents to the pipeline was the lack of an escape route for area residents in the event of emergencies. They also expressed frustration about the iniquity of people from the "brownest, poorest part of Louisiana" bearing the burden of a project whose profits they will not share,i.e. environmental justice.[7] The region affected by the BBP has suffered from extreme pollution resulting from industrial projects and is part of Cancer Alley.[10] The region's fisheries also suffered losses from a 160,000 gallon oil spill by Energy Transfer Partners into Caddo Lake in 2014 and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.[11][12] People in the region also became sick when Exxon dumped hazardous oilfield waste in the area during the 1990s.[13]

Between 2010 and 2016, Energy Transfer Partners spilled crude oil more often than any of its competitors with 200 leaks.[14] In May 2017, Energy transfer pipelines in Ohio had a series of leaks.[15] On December 1, 2017 it was reported that a pipeline leaked oil into Louisiana marsh.[16] At a meeting of the St. Martin Parish Council the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West noted that many pipelines and their spill banks underneath the Atchafalaya Basin running east to west have changed the water flow to such a degree that it no longer flows throughout the Basin, creating "dead water" or low-oxygen swamp water. The Corps of Engineers has required pipeline companies to maintain water flow, but is not enforcing the requirement.[17]

In 2017, concerns about the pipeline's contributions to climate change and social justice issues attracted protestors from outside the region to join the L'eau Est La Vie camp in direct action to obstruct construction of the pipeline.

As Energy Transfer's militaristic tactics of dealing with protest at its Dakota Access pipeline became public, such as the employment of security companies for aerial surveillance, radio eavesdropping and infiltration of camps as counterterrorism measures,[18] culminating in the attempt to build a conspiracy lawsuit, it demonstrated how it could scare protestors from further activism.[19]

Protests

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In June 2017, the pastor of St. James led a lawsuit opposing the pipeline to protect the community.[20]

In August 2017, St James residents asked the parish council to reject a land use permit for the pipeline.[7] Although the St James Parish council delayed its vote for the permit, it was eventually approved by a margin of 4-3 along racial lines, with the white majority prevailing.[21][22]

Protesters had demanded an environmental impact statement since at least September 2017.[23][24] On Halloween, people went to the Louisiana Capitol demanding that Governor John Bel Edwards should require an environmental impact statement for the pipeline.[25] In November, resistance was increasing and opponents of the project filed petition to intervene in a hearing of the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners regarding the application of private security firm TigerSwan, hired by Energy Transfer Partners.[26]

In December 2017, as Bayou Bridge LLC was to expropriate property, environmental activists demanded to see project records, including internal company communications, per Louisiana's public records law.[27]

L'eau Est La Vie camp, 2017-2019

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In June 2017, water protectors set up a prayer and resistance camp under indigenous leadership called 'L’eau Est La Vie' (Water Is Life).[28][29] By the end of that year, water protectors had purchased land in Rayne, Louisiana in the path of the BBP from which to stage resistance to the pipeline.[30]

In October 2018, water protectors shut down ETP shareholder meetings, forcing evacuations, and also locked themselves to the gates at the entrance to the residence of ETP CEO Kelcy Warren.[31] Tensions between L'eau Est La Vie camp and ETP security teams escalated, and water protectors reported that ETP security used the wake from a large boat to swamp and sink their vessels while they were legally observing a BBP construction site. Cherri Foytlin, a leader of the water protector camp, reported a brick thrown through her window, her cat being poisoned, and being brutally beaten by two masked men outside her home.[11][32]

Water protectors continued resistance through direct action including kayak blockades of construction sites, people chaining themselves to excavators, and aerial blockades.[33] By spring of 2019, water protectors had delayed construction by over 100 days and cost millions of dollars in delays through direct action.[34] Several water protectors were charged with felonies under Louisiana's critical infrastructure laws, but the felonies were later reduced.

L'eau Est La Vie camp received funding from Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network,[35] and the BEAI fund as well as grassroots donations.[36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ BayouBridge USACE New Orleans district, n.d., retrieved 19 December 2017
  2. ^ a b "About the Bayou Bridge Pipeline". Archived from the original on 2019-04-21.
  3. ^ a b J.R. Ball Huge Louisiana pipeline project draws opposition. Houma Today-GateHouse Media LLC NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune. Feb 20, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  4. ^ a b Bayou Bridge Pipeline to Deliver Crude to Louisiana Refinery Market napipelines.com 3 August 2015, retrieved 19 December 2017
  5. ^ a b Bayou Bridge Energy Transfer Partners, n.d. retrieved 19 December 2017
  6. ^ Sam Barnes Pipe for a $670 million pipeline through south Louisiana is ready to go. But its owners are awaiting the regulatory green light. BATON ROUGE BUSINESS REPORT. May 15, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  7. ^ a b c Meghan Holmes St. James residents oppose proposed pipeline. LOUISIANA WEEKLY-14 August 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  8. ^ Baurick, Tristan (March 27, 2019). "Bayou Bridge Pipeline is now complete, after years of controversy". The Times-Picayune.
  9. ^ Lamar White, Jr.The Lies and Contradictions of Big Oil’s Campaign Against Protecting and Restoring Louisiana’s Coast. BAYOU BRIEF, August 18, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  10. ^ Lauren Zanolli in St James, Louisiana [‘Cancer Alley’ residents say industry is hurting town: ‘We’re collateral damage’] THE GUARDIAN- 6 June 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  11. ^ a b Whittle, Joe (January 16, 2019). "The women fighting a pipeline that could destroy precious wildlife". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Jody Meche column: Crawfishermen under threat as oil, gas companies show flagrant disregard for our way of life[permanent dead link‍] The Advocate Oct 24, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  13. ^ Hamilton III and Berken, J. Brooke and Erick J. (January 23, 2015). "Exxon at Grand Bois, Louisiana: A Three-Level Analysis of Management Decision Making and Corporate Conduct". Business Ethics Quarterly. 15.
  14. ^ Hampton, Liz (September 23, 2016). "Sunoco, behind protested Dakota pipeline, tops U.S. crude spill charts". Reuters.
  15. ^ Sam Levin in San Francisco Firm behind Dakota Access pipeline faces intense scrutiny for series of leaks. THE GUARDIAN- 25 May 2017
  16. ^ Hole in pipeline leaks oil into Louisiana marsh. Houma Today-GateHouse Media LLC -The Associated Press, 1 Dec 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  17. ^ Danny Fenster Basin’s water flow brought up at meeting. THE DAILY IBERIAN-Sep 6, 2017
  18. ^ Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, Alice Speri leaked documents reveal counterterrorism tactics used at Standing Rock to “defeat Pipeline Insurgencies”. The Intercept, May 27, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  19. ^ Alleen Brown, Will Parrish, Alice Speri Dakota Access PIPELINE COMPANY paid mercenaries to build conspiracy lawsuit against environmentalists. The Intercept- November 15, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  20. ^ Julie Dermansky Pastor Leads Lawsuit Opposing Bayou Bridge Pipeline to Protect Louisiana Cancer Alley Community DESMOG- June 26, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  21. ^ David J Mitchell St. James Parish Council delays vote on oil pipeline permit. Houma Today- GateHouse Media LLC- The Advocate (Baton Rouge) Aug 10, 2017
  22. ^ David J Mitchell Oil pipeline wins approval to run through Vacherie area. Houma Today- GateHouse Media LLC. The Advocate, Aug 24, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  23. ^ Dannielle Garcia Protesters demand Environmental Impact Study for Bayou Bridge, LOGA reacts. Archived 2017-12-22 at the Wayback Machine KATC- Sep 22, 2017
  24. ^ Emily Fontenot. Opponents to pipeline bring concerns to Baton Rouge. AMERICAN PRESS-Oct 10, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  25. ^ Yessenia Funes Pipeline Protest Pumpkins Send a Halloween Message to Louisiana’s Governor. EARTHER- 10/31/17, retrieved 19 December 2017
  26. ^ Sabrina Canfuield Resistance Builds to New Louisiana Oil Pipeline. COURTHOUSE NEWS- November 1, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  27. ^ Steve Hardy Louisiana environmental groups target Bayou Bridge pipeline records. Houma Today- GateHouse Media LLC, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)- Dec 7, 2017, retrieved 19 December 2017
  28. ^ Yessenia Funes Prayer and Resistance Camp Launches in Louisiana to Challenge Pipeline Connected to DAPL. Colorllines- ICYMI: Jun 26, 2017,retrieved 19 December 2017
  29. ^ Anna Wagner How Indigenous Leaders Are Building the Resistance to Louisiana’s Bayou Bridge Pipeline GREENPEACE August 17, 2017
  30. ^ Julie Dermansky With Tribal Blessing, Louisiana Activist Buys Land in Path of Proposed Bayou Bridge Pipeline DESMOG- December 17, 2017
  31. ^ L'eau est la vie (October 22, 2018). "Water Protectors Lock-Down Dallas Mansion of Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners". Earth First Journal.
  32. ^ L'eau est la vie (October 16, 2018). "Energy Transfer Partners Security Sinks Two Boats Full Of Water Protectors, Threatening Lives". It's Going Down.
  33. ^ Wikler, Maia and Lovell, Mary (October 16, 2018). "Bayou Bridge Pipeline Meets Resistance from the L'eau Est La Vie Camp". Teen Vogue.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ Glikes-Bower, Taliesin (March 11, 2019). "In Photos: Battle on the Bayou". Scalawag.
  35. ^ "Louisiana Rise".
  36. ^ "CLAIM: Anti-Bayou Bridge Pipeline Protest Camp Is A Local, Grassroots Movement". Archived from the original on 2021-05-19.
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