Voices from the Gulf

Showing stories 11 through 20 of 818 total stories.

Bayou Bridge Pipeline Foes Say Moonlighting Sheriff's Deputies Protect Corporate Interests at Expense of Constitutional Rights

Iraq war veteran and pipeline opponent Ramon Mejia was trying to stop Energy Transfer Partners from illegally constructing a pipeline on a cypress tree-covered swath of land deep in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin when St. Martin Parish Sheriff's deputies arrived.

Race and Racial Justice

Bayou Bridge Pipeline Worker Flashes Gesture Associated With White Supremacy

A photo of a Bayou Bridge pipeline construction crew shows a worker flashing what some say is a white-power gesture aimed at water protectors.

The worker, who was on a boat traveling down Bayou Chene in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin, can be seen forming a circle with his thumb and index finger. His remaining three fingers are raised. Hats worn by several other workers on the boat identify them as employees of Spartan Directional, a contractor for the project.

Climate and Environment

Africatown Blueway Plans Revealed

For the past two years, Africatown natives and supporters have been developing plans along with the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) creating a design plan for a trail network that would link the Africatown community to the proposed Africatown State Park, a 150 acre parcel of undeveloped, city owned land located 10 miles west of Africatown.

Climate and Environment

Water Protectors Say Law Enforcement Not Protecting Them from Bayou Bridge Workers

Water protectors engaged in a tree sit in the Atchafalaya Basin say some local and state law enforcement agencies in Louisiana are refusing to protect them from what they call aggressive and dangerous actions by Bayou Bridge pipeline workers.

In a letter sent to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana State Police and the office of Governor John Bel Edwards, attorneys for the water protectors formally advised the agencies of “serious ongoing health and safety concerns for people protesting the construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline”.

Climate and Environment

Tree Sitters Block Bayou Bridge Pipeline Construction in Atchafalaya Basin

Aiming to protect Louisiana communities and residents, water protectors say they are stopping construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline by engaging in multiple tree-sits deep in the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in North America.

Tree-sitters say they’ve been living in trees in the pipeline's path for several weeks and will not move until the St. James community has an evacuation route and the swamp's cypress trees are protected.

Climate and Environment

Louisiana Family Says Bayou Bridge Pipeline Construction Damaged Home

Melinda Tillies said first time it happened she thought it was an earthquake or maybe an explosion. Her whole house shook, the lights flickered and tiles on edge of the kitchen countertop crashed to the floor. Her daughter – who is pregnant and was in the shower – screamed in fright.

Climate and Environment

Construction on Bayou Bridge Pipeline Continues Despite Judge’s Order, Water Protectors File Petition, Use Civil Disobedience to Stop Work

Construction on the controversial Bayou Bridge pipeline is continuing near the historic and predominately black community of St. James despite a judge’s ruling that the state illegally granted the company a coastal use permit by not considering impacts the project will have on area residents.

Climate and Environment

Expanding Prison Labor in Louisiana is Slavery by Another Name

Editor’s note: A bill could soon expand the amount of work done by state prisoners on repairs and construction projects in certain state buildings in Louisiana, including the Capitol complex in Baton Rouge. Inmates are paid between 4 and 70 cents per hour for their work.

Climate and Environment

Louisiana Judge Rules Bayou Bridge Pipeline's Coastal Use Permit Is Illegal

A judge has ruled that the coastal use permit issued for nearly 18 miles of Energy Transfer Partners’ Bayou Bridge pipeline is illegal because the state did not require it to take into consideration impacts the project would have on St. James, a historic and predominately black community located at the tail end of the 163-mile project.

On Friday, District Judge Alvin Turner, Jr. ruled that the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) failed to follow state guidelines when issuing a coastal use permit to Bayou Bridge Pipeine LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners.

Climate and Environment

Experts On Bayou Bridge Robocalls Have Ties to TigerSwan, Industry Groups

In late March, residents across Louisiana picked up the phone to hear a recorded voice inviting them to join experts for a “free informational conference call on the Bayou Bridge pipeline.”

But residents who stayed on the line were never informed that one of those experts -- James “Spider” Marks -- has close ties to TigerSwan, a mercenary private security firm that used counter-terrorism tactics against water protectors at Standing Rock and that’s been denied a license to work in Louisiana.

Voices from the Gulf

Pages