Bayou Bridge Pipeline

FACT CHECK: Courts Have Affirmed Bayou Bridge Permits

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CLAIM: Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman claimed in a tweet that the permits for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline were issued illegally. “Oil will start flowing through the Bayou Bridge pipeline starting April 1. But the permits were issued illegally and we have a pending motion in federal court to shut it back down. This isn’t over,” Hasselman said.

RATING: False

FACT CHECK

A federal appeals court ruled last summer that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers complied with all applicable laws and regulations when it authorized permits for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. In a 19-page order, the U.S. Fifth Circuit …

Anti-Pipeline Group Spreads Lies to Boost Fundraising

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The anti-pipeline encampment known as the L’eau Est La Vie Camp is on life support after a failed campaign to stop construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. Refusing to accept defeat, opponents have now resorted to spreading outright lies in order to keep their movement alive.

Earlier this week, the camp put out a press release falsely claiming that the project is“delayed indefinitely,” despite clear evidence showing otherwise.

For over a year, these career activists have lived at the expense of others. A GoFundMe campaign for the L’eau Est La Vie Camp has raised over $100,000 and donations from organizations …

FACT CHECK: Is the Bayou Bridge Pipeline “Delayed Indefinitely?”

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UPDATE: Energy Transfer announced on March 26 that the Bayou Bridge Pipeline will begin transporting product on April 1, 2019.

CLAIM: Activists from the L’eau Est La Vie Camp claimed that construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline “has been halted indefinitely” and that “Energy Transfer Partners may have lied to its shareholders when it told investors the Bayou Bridge pipeline will be fully functional this month.”

RATING: FALSE

The claim is false given a series of recent investor calls and legal filings that indicate the pipeline is expected to be placed into service in March.

FACT CHECK

Energy Transfer said …

FACT CHECK: No, Bayou Bridge Didn’t Violate Permit Conditions

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CLAIM: A coalition of environmental groups, including the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Sierra Club, claimed in a federal lawsuit that the developer of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline has violated the terms of a federal permit issued for the project.

RATING: FALSE

FACT CHECK

On Jan. 23, a coalition of environmental groups filed a petition asking a federal court to halt construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin. The coalition alleges that the project’s developer has continued to work on the 163-mile pipeline despite a federal permit provision barring construction activity during high-water conditions.

This claim is false given …

Anti-Pipeline Groups Butt Heads in Louisiana

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CLAIM: Cherri Foytlin, a member of the anti-pipeline encampment known as the L’eau Est La Vie Camp, called fellow activist and head of the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Dean Wilson a white supremacist.

RATING: 50% True, Foytlin did associate Wilson with white supremacy in a Jan. 16 Facebook post, but did not provide any evidence to support her accusation.

FACT CHECK

Tensions between two groups opposing the Bayou Bridge Pipeline boiled over Wednesday when L’eau Est La Vie Camp member Cherri Foytlin unloaded on Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Executive Director Dean Wilson. In a strongly-worded Facebook post, Foytlin called Wilson a …

FACT CHECK: Oil Transported by Bayou Bridge Pipeline Will Go to China

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CLAIM: The Guardian published an article claiming that crude oil transported by the Bayou Bridge Pipeline “will be shipped primarily to China.”

RATING: False 

The claim is not only unsubstantiated, it is also inaccurate based on information available about the pipeline. 

FACT CHECK

The soon-to-be-completed 176-mile Bayou Bridge Pipeline will transport up to 480,000 barrels per day of crude oil from storage facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana to St. James, Louisiana, where it will then be distributed to refineries along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

During the refining process, crude oil transported by the Bayou Bridge Pipeline will be transformed into …

CLAIM: Anti-Bayou Bridge Pipeline Protest Camp Is A Local, Grassroots Movement

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An Oct. 16 Teen Vogue article claimed that the anti-Bayou Bridge Pipeline protest encampment known as the L’eau Est La Vie camp is “a grassroots group taking dynamic action to stop the pipeline.”

RATING: 80% False

While some of the opposition pipeline project is genuine, including concerns expressed by landowners, the protest encampment has solicited and received at least $33,000 from national activist-driven philanthropic foundations and environmental organizations.

At the heart of the protest is the L’eau Est La Vie Camp, a self-described “floating pipeline resistance camp” that has employed direct action tactics to disrupt the construction of a …

CLAIM: Bayou Bridge Pipeline protesters leave trash in the Atchafalaya Basin

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In late October 2018 the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office claimed that protesters with the L’eau Est La Vie Camp had left behind a large amount of trash in the sensitive wetland area, including chemicals, human waste, and personal belongings. “Unfortunately, the trash this group left behind and being washed into the water; posed a real threat to wildlife, fish, and boaters,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

RATING: 100% True

Since July 2018, environmental activists protesting the construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline have been camping in the Atchafalaya Basin area of St. Martin Parish in …