ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. ― Since April 2017, opponents of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline have been trickling into an encampment in south Louisiana to block construction of the 163-mile crude oil pipeline, which demonstrators say will harm the region’s water supply. The self-described “water protectors” have proven successful in disrupting the building of the pipeline, but in recent weeks police upped the ante by arresting and charging activists under a controversial new law.
'Critical Infrastructure' Law
On Thursday three water protectors were grabbed off their boats by ETP's private security while in a public waterway. They were then arrested and charged with FELONIES under Louisiana's new anti-protest law. #NoBayouBridge #StopETP pic.twitter.com/Sb0zb0saEx
— Leau Est La Vie Camp (@NoBayouBridge) August 12, 2018
On Aug. 9, three demonstrators with the L’eau Est La Vie protest camp in Rayne were kayaking through public waters adjoining Bayou Bridge construction when they became the first in the state to be arrested on charges of “critical infrastructure” trespass. The law, which went into effect on Aug. 1, redefines pipelines as critical infrastructure. As a result, trespassing along them – a crime that previously warranted not much more than a misdemeanor citation – is a felony offense that carries up to five years imprisonment and fines up to $1,000.
"Our water protectors were breaking no laws as they were using their kayaks in navigable public waters, a protected right in Louisiana. Moreover, corporate private security should not have the power to abduct and detain people," L'eau Est La Vie Camp wrote on Facebook.
The three arrestees were freed after posting $10,000 bond each.
"Our water protectors were breaking no laws as they were using their kayaks in navigable public waters, a protected right in Louisiana. Moreover, corporate private security should not have the power to abduct and detain people," L'eau Est La Vie Camp wrote on Facebook.
The three arrestees were freed after posting $10,000 bond each.
Water Protectors
On Aug. 20, a water protector was tased and arrested after deputies forcibly removed her from a "skypod” – a type of makeshift aerial blockade – intended to stop construction.
“They tasered me on private property, which [the officer] knew because he read and confiscated the documents on-site," the demonstrator told Earth First, an environmental newsletter.
"Then they had me lie on my stomach in the shovel of the excavator," she said. "They wouldn’t let me bring my boots or let me get them, and I had to walk on an active construction site barefoot."
“They tasered me on private property, which [the officer] knew because he read and confiscated the documents on-site," the demonstrator told Earth First, an environmental newsletter.
"Then they had me lie on my stomach in the shovel of the excavator," she said. "They wouldn’t let me bring my boots or let me get them, and I had to walk on an active construction site barefoot."
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Bayou Bridge Pipeline
David Lohr/HuffPost
The Bayou Bridge pipeline has been under construction since February. Its corporate parent, Energy Transfer Partners, will use it to carry up to 480,000 barrels of oil a day through the Atchafalaya Basin to crude oil refineries and export terminals, according to the permit application.
Almost Done
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Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC's attorneys said construction of the entire 163-mile pipeline is nearly complete.
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'Criminalizing People'
"These are not people that are violent," Savage told HuffPost. "They are criminalizing people who are exercising First Amendment rights on property where they have legal permission to be."
'Challenging The Law'
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To date, around a dozen demonstrators have been arrested under the new state law, according to Foytlin and local media outlets.
Loyola Law School attorney Bill Quigley is representing the arrestees pro bono.
"We are going to be challenging the law and the way it was used in all these arrests," Quigley wrote in a statement obtained by The Advocate. "These are all cases that would have been misdemeanors until August 1. We have to protect the right to dissent."
Energy Transfer Partners, the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office and the district attorney's office did not respond to requests for comment
Loyola Law School attorney Bill Quigley is representing the arrestees pro bono.
"We are going to be challenging the law and the way it was used in all these arrests," Quigley wrote in a statement obtained by The Advocate. "These are all cases that would have been misdemeanors until August 1. We have to protect the right to dissent."
Energy Transfer Partners, the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office and the district attorney's office did not respond to requests for comment
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'Anti-Protest Law Is Anti-American'
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"This anti-protest law is anti-American," Foytlin said. "What it does is put corporations above the U.S. because we have the right to protest, but they're taking away that right and putting a corporation above allegiance to the country and that’s crazy. I don’t get that. It doesn’t make any sense. It's treasonous. There shouldn’t be anything above the country."
Before You Go
