Enterprise Products wants to build a 53 mile pipeline straight through the Atchafalaya basin. As one of the largest providers of fossil fuel infrastructure in the United States, their disregard for the largest wetland in our country is unnerving. Take their permit request submitted to the New Orleans District Army Corps and Louisiana DEQ for example–there’s no plan to mitigate for more than 350 acres of wetland destroyed, or the tens of thousands of wetland acres blocked in the basin. This project cannot proceed without a plan for replacing these invaluable swamps.Crossing from East to West, through Assumption, Ascension, Iberville, and St. Martin Parishes, the project is bound to block regional hydrology. This is a serious problem facing our wetlands. Blocking water movement leads to further, unaccounted for, wetland degradation. In the Atchafalaya basin, already criss-crossed by pipelines, the last thing we need is one more.Proposed course for one piece of the new Aegis pipeline.Midstream infrastructure, such as this pipeline, and the now infamous Keystone XL, is a contentious aspect of the latest fossil fuel boom. It is important to remember that pipelines do not exist in isolation. In fact, this pipeline is part of a larger, 270 mile line that will run from Enterprise’s Mont Belvieu plant in Texas to as yet to be determined locations in Lousiana. Giving the go-ahead to this pipeline to nowhere acts as a tacit OK for future development in Lousiana. And with that possibility comes further destruction of the Gulf Coast’s wetlands.Which begs the question: can the Gulf Coast really afford another pipeline, let alone this one?please emailJames.little@usace.army.milJames Little, Project Manager USACE, with your concerns about one of the Greatest Swamps on the planet Earthandelizabeth.johnson@la.gov Elizabeth Johnson, LQ DEQ with comments of conditions that the Corps must have to ensure that the quality of our waters is ensured.By June 8th.Philip Schoettle-Greene is part of the Water Resources program at GRN
