The Keystone pipeline just spilled 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota, potentially contaminating ground water and spoiling farmland.
This spill demonstrates why a broad cross section of Louisiana residents are opposing the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. Energy Transfer Partners (who are constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline) wants to build Bayou Bridge across 170 miles of Southeast Louisiana, including the Atchafalaya Basin, America's largest river basin swamp. The pipeline will directly impact 600 acres of Louisiana's disappearing wetlands, and threaten nearly 700 waterbodies.
The massive Keystone spill shows why Bayou Bridge needs a full and complete Environmental Impact Study as well as complete disaster response plans for a possible spill. The Atchafalaya Basin is habitat for endangered and threatened species, and is relied upon by Cajun crawfishermen for their livelihoods. A 210,000 gallon spill would be devastating for these communities.
Louisiana's Governor John Bel Edwards must safeguard the Atchafalaya and residents which rely upon it by demanding a full Environmental Impact Statement and a complete disaster response plan before construction permits are issued.
Atchafalaya Basin photo courtesy Jeffrey Dubinsky.
