Groups Challenge Approval of Fracked Oil Bayou Bridge Pipeline

Baton Rouge, LA -- Today, a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging the approval of the Bayou Bridge pipeline. The pipeline, proposed by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company behind the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, would carry fracked oil across the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest river swamp in the country, and would threaten the water supply for more than 300,000 people in southern Louisiana.

On December 14, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued permits to allow ETP to begin construction of the pipeline without having conducted a full environmental impact statement.

The lawsuit, filed by the Sierra Club, Atchafalaya Basinkeepers, Gulf Restoration Network, Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West, with representation by Earthjustice, challenges these permits under the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act.

“The Bayou Bridge pipeline poses an unacceptable risk to communities and families along its route, and the people of Louisiana deserve a full accounting of these risks,” said Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign director Kelly Martin. “It is unacceptable for the Army Corps to rubber stamp this project without regard for the effect it would have on these communities and their air, water, health, and safety. We will continue to stand with our partners in Louisiana and fight back against this fracked oil pipeline.”

"Given the record of oil leaks and leftover obstructions to natural water flows from pipelines built by the contractor, it is difficult to believe the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ determination of that this pipeline would have ‘no significant impact,’” said Haywood Martin, chair of the Sierra Club Delta Chapter. “The pipeline represents a major threat to the economic and ecologic value of one of the country's largest remaining wetland swamps.”