The NoDAPL battle continues as Energy Transfer Partner (ETP) seeks to build the Bayou Bridge pipeline. The Bayou Bridge pipeline is 162.5-mile crude oil pipeline that would run from Lake Charles to St. James, Louisiana.  The pipeline is the final stage to bring fracked-oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota to Louisiana for export.

According to No Bayou Bridge, “Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the very same company behind the notorious Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) , is trying to build a 162 mile crude oil pipeline across Louisiana called the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP). BBP will pollute our water, crossing an astounding 700 bodies of water including Bayou LaFourche, a critical reservoir that supplies the United Houma Nation and 300,000 Louisiana residents with clean, safe drinking water. BBP violates indigenous sovereignty. Along its path of destruction, BBP would impact sacred mounds and threaten drinking water of the United Houma Nation.”

Photo by Waniya Locke

Similar to the resistance camps that were set up to oppose the Dakota Access pipeline, the L’eau Est La Vie camp was established to protest the construction of the Bayou bridge pipeline.

A recent decision by Louisiana’s 23rd Judicial District Court stated that “the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) violated the Coastal Use Guidelines when it issued Bayou Bridge Pipeline, LLC a Coastal Use Permit, allowing the company to construct and operate a crude oil pipeline through Louisiana’s Coastal Zone.”

Despite the court decision, and not having a work order for construction, Energy Transfer Partners has continued build the pipeline.

Live stream of illegal construction

On May 31, four water protectors were arrested attempting to block the construction of the pipeline.

Water protector Waniya Locke states, “The #NoDAPL fight continues, we are still in opposition. We are still protecting the MniSose (Missouri River). 17 million drink from our river, but 10 million will be affected by Dakota Access Pipeline.

I don’t know how to stress even more that Dakota Access Pipeline is the same aka Bayou Bridge Pipeline. The #NoBBP is protecting 300,000 people drinking water.

Waniya Locke

The Bayou Bridge Pipeline aka Dakota Access Pipeline is affecting the Bayou.

Louisiana’s bayous are home to some of the most unique ecosystems and societies on the planet. For centuries, native tribes, immigrants and ancient creatures have coexisted in these vast wetlands.

Over thousands of years, outlets and inlets from the Mississippi River formed Louisiana’s bayous. These shallow bodies of water, often called swamps, appear stagnant, with opaque or clear water. Louisiana’s coastal bayous contain a mixture of saltwater and freshwater, also known as brackish water. Vast cypress forests encompass much of Louisiana’s bayous.

Louisiana’s bayous encompass nearly 3 million acres, and their warm ecosystems create a home for wiregrass, cyprus trees, bottomland hardwoods, mosses, water celery and a host of other varieties of vegetation.

Louisiana’s bayous are home to American alligators, blue herons, shrimp, white-tailed deer and fish. Bayou Bartholomew, a 375-mile-long wetland, supports the lives of more than 100 fish species. Numerous species of migratory nesting birds visit Louisiana bayous in fall and spring.”

For more information on the Stop the Bayou Bridge pipeline go here

Donate to the legal fund: https://www.youcaring.com/leauestlavienobayoubridgepipeline-807622

by Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Matt Remle)

Matt Remle (Lakota) is an editor and writer for Last Real Indians and LRInspire and the co-founder of Mazaska Talks. Follow @wakiyan7