Company Logo

News

Water Protectors Document Multiple Potential Permit Violations in St. James Parish Amidst Intensified Construction

State Regulatory Agency Fails to Respond to Threats Posed to Human Health and Safety

(Bayou Bridge Pipeline Route in St. James Parish, LA)

As the pace of pipeline construction intensifies in St. James Parish, Louisiana Water Protectors have documented numerous potential permit violations demonstrating Bayou Bridge LLC’s willingness to compromise their standards in the interest of maximizing speed and profit. For pictures of the suspected violations, see the Water Protector Facebook Page.

Last week, Water Protectors monitoring near the terminus of the pipeline route observed several active or recently active construction sites at which sediment controls were absent or highly compromised. The lack of silt fencing had allowed discharge of fill and rocks to enter into nearby ditches and to partially or completely block multiple newly constructed culverts.

“It’s clear they are hurrying up construction in St. James Parish. They drove over fencing and culverts – the work is sloppy and demonstrates more than ever the vulnerability of St. James Parish in building this pipeline,” said Sarah Howard of Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Water Protector who documented the potential violations.

Silt fencing and other sediment controls are required per the Water Quality Certification (WQC) issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). The WQC is in in turn a prerequisite for the 404 permit granted by the Army Corps of Engineers to Bayou Bridge LLC. Additionally, water pollution of public waterways, such as the sediment discharged when proper sediment controls are absent, falls within the LDEQ’s jurisdiction.

“Bayou Bridge is pushing ahead fast,” said Renate Heurich with 350 New Orleans who also monitored in St. James. “Sediment control has been run over by workers’ trucks and not repaired. A culvert was smashed and run over.”

However, LDEQ has failed to take action in response to earlier complaints filed by Water Protectors documenting absence of sediment controls and resulting water pollution and obstruction of public waterways. The agency has evaded their regulatory responsibility by intentionally misinterpreting these violations as issues of stormwater management. Oil and gas industry related activities are exempt from regulation related to stormwater management.

Water Protectors are alarmed by the speed of construction activities in St. James Parish and the potential human and environmental consequences of the company’s prioritization of speed and their bottom line above health and safety standards.

Stormwater management issues are of particular concern to St. James Parish residents, who live in an area that is both surrounded by petrochemical facilities and prone to climate-change exacerbated flooding. Every local flooding event causes local ditches to overflow and deposit oily residues from nearby refineries onto residents’ lawns and gardens. Obstruction of ditches and culverts, such as that currently occurring as a result of sloppy and irresponsible construction carried out by Bayou Bridge LLC, greatly increases the likelihood that flooding will result from the next major rain.

For more information and to see pictures from Water Protectors’ recent monitoring trips in St. James Parish, please see the Louisiana Water Protectors Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/153859232082856/

###


CONTACT:

Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, 504-452-4909, anne@labucketbrigade.org