Bayou Bridge Pipeline

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.

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.

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.

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.

Originally posted on the Bold Louisiana site on December 1, 2016 

Photo: Moon rising on the Oceti Sakowin camp on November 12, 2016, by Karen Savage

December 2, 2016

Sheriff Greg Champagne
President, National Sheriffs’ Association
St. Charles Parish Sheriff
15025 River Rd.
Hahnville, LA 70057

Dear Sir,