On Thursday, April 5, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline attempted to shut down its construction by blocking an industrial supply companyโs facility in Iowa, Louisiana, just outside of Lake Charles onย theย same dayย aย billย spelling out harsher penalties for pipeline protesters was advanced to committee during the Louisiana legislativeย session.ย
For about two hours starting at 6:30 a.m., roughly 20 protesters blocked the entrance to Yak Mat,ย an industrial yard that supplies access mats used to create temporaryย roadways at pipeline construction sites and enable trucks to pass through muddy areas. The siteย is close to the starting point of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which spans south Louisiana from Lake Charles, near the Texas border, to St. James, along the Mississippi River. The pipeline is the tail end of Energy Transfer Partnersโ Dakota Accessย pipeline network, which begins in Northย Dakota.
Renate Heurich, locked to a barrel, being rolled out of the entrance to the Yat Mat lot in Iowa, Louisiana, during a protest against the Bayou Bridgeย pipeline.
Louisiana joins several states, including Wyoming, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, in introducing a bill specifically making the types of protests increasingly common at oil and gas pipeline construction sites criminal acts with harsher penalties. This latest proposed legislation parallels an anti-protest law that passed inย Oklahoma in May 2017. Protestsย againstย the Dakota Access pipeline were cited as the inspiration for these โcritical infrastructureโ bills,ย whichย liken the actions of pipeline protesters toย โterroristย activities.โ
Shortly after police arrived on Thursday, the protesters dispersed, except two New Orleans residents, both educators. Renate Heurich and Susan Prevost chained themselves into barrels fastened to the ground at the entrance to the mat supply yard. Both women started the day in crawfish costumes to emphasis the oil pipelineโs threat to theย wildย crawfish habitat in the Atchafalaya Basin, a National Heritage Area which the pipeline is being built through, despite an ongoing legalย challenge.
Law enforcement officers waiting to move in on the protesters in Iowa, Louisiana. There were more members of law enforcement at the protest thanย protesters.
One of the Bayou Bridge pipeline protesters, dressed as an iconic Louisiana crawfish,ย in Iowa,ย Louisiana.
Prevost stressed the importance of protecting Louisianaโs heritage. She worries that an oil spill in the basinย will mean thatย future generations of local Louisianans wonโt know the joys of traditional crawfishย boils. A spill in the basin could decimate the wild crawfish population. โCan Louisiana really afford the Bayou Bridge pipeline from the company that has the worstย record onย pipelineย accidents?โ Prevost asked me the night beforeย theย protest.
Heurich, a founding member of 350 New Orleans, believes it is imperative to take a stand against climate change. Sheย believes direct actions against the pipeline are necessaryย because tremendous public outcry againstย the permitting of new fossil fuel projects and ongoing legal challengesย against the pipeline have not succeeded in stoppingย itsย construction.
โSix Democratic New Orleans city council members recently voted in favor of a new gas plant and Democratic governor John Bel Edwards still wonโt acknowledge manโs roleย in climate change,โ sheย said,ย โbut they all knowย humansย are responsible forย climate change. I donโt believe theyโre dumb.ย Itย is absolutely about theย money.โ
Renate Heurich, a retired teacher and member of 350 New Orleans, protesting against the Bayou Bridge pipeline in Iowa,ย Louisiana.
Protesters move back when police move in and tell them to disperse. All but the two who remained in the barrelsย complied.ย
Heurich also wants to protect Louisianans from the pollution oil and gas industry sites produce which sicken many people in fenceline communities, likeย St. James, a small town where the Bayou Bridge pipeline will end. She told me that people she knows are already dying of illnesses associated with toxic emissions from industrial sites in the area, includingย Keith Hunter, a retired carpenter, whom she met at an anti-pipeline meeting in St. James. Others she met a year ago in St. Jamesย have been diagnosed withย cancer.
After sheriffโs deputies managed to move Heurichโs barrel out of the way, operations were able to resume. The deputies offeredย Heurich and Prevostย a deal: If they unlocked themselvesย on their own, they would be charged with felony trespass, but avoid being taken to jail. Heurich unlocked herself, while Prevost remained in her barrel until noon, deciding to unlockย herself after two trucks passed dangerously close toย her.
Truck loaded with mats returning to the yard passing dangerously close to Susan Prevost who was locked into a barrel fastened into theย ground.
After conferring with a lawyer, Susan Prevost removes herself from a barrel she attached herself to in order to block work on the Bayou Bridge pipeline.ย ย
Susan Prevost being led away by police after her arrest during a protest against the Bayou Bridgeย pipeline.
Cherri Foytlin, one of the founders of the anti-pipeline Lโeau Est La Vie Camp (Water Is Life), was also arrested after live-streaming the demonstration for over an hour at the end ofย theย driveway, which she thought wasย aย publicย road. โI complied with what the officers told me,โ she wrote in an email. When the police came after her, others from the camp pleadedย with the officers to let her go, explaining sheย hadnโt heard them tell her to get off the driveway.
Another activist who took part in the protest was accused of stealing a car. All were released later the same afternoon but faceย charges.
Cherri Foytlin, in the back of a police car being taken to jail for trespassing during a protest against the Bayou Bridgeย pipeline.
Protester being takenย away.
Heurichย found it ironic that their direct action took place hours before the state legislature advanced to committeeย theย bill HB 727,ย which would strengthen punishments against pipeline protesters. She said the attorney for the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, who reportedly helped draft the bill,ย sat next to its lead sponsor during the session. โThe oil andย gas industry writesย a law to protect its interest, in order to keep Louisiana a sacrifice zone while at the same time taking away our First Amendment right to protest its actions,โย she saidย in dismay, โand our legislators support it.โ
Louisiana law already prohibits trespassing at sites known as โcritical infrastructure,โ including power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, water treatment facilities,ย andย natural gas terminals. House Bill 727 adds pipelines and their construction areas to the list of critical infrastructure sites, a move in reaction to growing pipeline protestsย nationwide.
HB 727 is based on aย model bill produced by the conservative, corporate-fundedย American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). โBut it is ALEC-plusโ Pam Spees,ย aย lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is representing a coalition of groups against the Bayou Bridge pipeline in a varietyย of legal challenges, said. โPeople not involved in an action, who donโt protest, damage, or injure anything or anybody, can still be held accountable for being associated withย activists.โ
The bill increases the penalties for any damageย toย or interference with pipeline and other critical infrastructure sites.ย Sentencesย rangeย from one to 15 years in prison with a $10,000 fine or six to 20 years plus a $25,000 fineย if the damage could threaten human life or disrupt site operations.ย In addition,ย this state bill criminalizes โconspiracy to commit trespass.โ Anyone involved with organizing a protest like the one onย April 5 could face a year in prison. And anyone connected to an action that involvesย damaging the infrastructure couldย end up withย a prison sentence of 20 years and fines of up to $250,000 if a judge rulesย that they are part of a conspiracy that threatens life orย theย operation of criticalย infrastructure.
โThe language concerning conspiracy is worrisome,โ Spees told me during the protest in Iowa. โThe conspiracy provision makes it possible for law enforcement to arrest people before theyย have actually done anything wrong, even if they are just planning a nonviolent protest.โ After Thursdayโs protest, Spees traveled to the jail to help make sure everyone arrested during the demonstration wasย released.
Along with a handful of others, Meg Louge, a member of 350 New Orleans, spoke out against HB 727 at the state capitol in Baton Rouge. Many of them objected to the proposedย law because existing trespass laws are already in place. Some argued during Thursdayโs legislative session that the new law is meant to quashย dissentย against oil and gas pipelines. โThe representatives who spoke in favor of the bill cited the protests inย North Dakota a couple of times and how they donโt want Louisiana to ever have a โStanding Rockโ type situation,โ Lougeย said.
Though Louge was not pleased the bill was moved to committee, she said that she was glad that Rep. Valarie Hodges, one of the billโs sponsors, agreed to amend the conspiracy languageย during the session, before the bill is voted on inย committee.
Whileย Thursdayโs pipeline protest didnโt go as planned,ย Heurichย was not discouraged. โTodayโs action was a success,โย sheย saidย duringย a call. โOne of our goals is to get the word out thatย climate change is a huge issue and that there is real opposition inย Louisiana.โ
Manager of a LaQuinta Hotel next to the industrial yard waving goodbye as the protesters left the area. Some of the hotelโs workers were taken aback by the protesters who interfered with some of their guestsโ work. Many workers that use the mats stay in theย hotel.
Law enforcement removing one of the barrels used in a protest against the Bayou Bridge pipeline in Iowa,ย Louisiana.
All photos by Julie Dermanskyย ยฉ2018
Main image: Susan Prevost, a New Orleans teacher, in a crawfish costume locked toย a barrel during a protest against the Bayou Bridge pipeline in Iowa,ย Louisiana.
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