Cohen asks president to stop pipeline project
The Byhalia Connection is a proposed pipeline that aims to connect the Valero Refinery in Memphis, seen here in 2019, to an existing pipeline in Byhalia, Mississippi, by way of via DeSoto and Marshall counties. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is appealing directly to President Joe Biden to stop a controversial oil pipeline from being built through his district in Memphis.
The so-called Byhalia Connection would move crude oil from a pipeline that would run from the Valero refinery in southwest Memphis to another pipeline near Byhalia in northern Mississippi.
The project has drawn opposition because it would pass through predominantly Black neighborhoods in southwest and South Memphis, and also because there are concerns a pipeline rupture could pollute the city’s water supply.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently issued a Nationwide Permit 12 for the project, which essentially was the last major hurdle the project needed to clear at the federal level.
In a letter to Biden, Cohen asked for that permit to be rescinded.
“As you take immediate action to address the climate crisis, I write to ask your administration to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to rescind its recent verification of the use of the Nationwide Permit 12 for the proposed Byhalia crude oil pipeline that would threaten the drinking water and disrupt the property rights of predominantly Black neighborhoods in my district,” Cohen wrote.
“… The proposed Byhalia Pipeline would impose yet another burden on Black neighborhoods in southwest Memphis that have, for decades, unfairly shouldered the pollution burdens of an oil refiner, and coal- and gas-fired power plants.”
A spokeswoman for Plains All American Pipeline LP, the Houston company that wants to build the Byhalia Connction, said Cohen’s concerns are unfounded.
“In a response letter sent to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen on Feb. 5th, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers addressed his concerns around the Byhalia Connection Pipeline’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit 12, a federal permit only available for projects that will have minimal impacts on the environment, noting that ‘there are no projected impacts resulting in total permanent loss of either wetlands or streams with the project’ and that Memphis district personnel did not recommend converting to an individual permit because ‘the aquatic impacts of the project are minimal’ and that this action is consistent with similar nationwide permitting decisions,” Katie Martin, the pipeline company’s communications manager, said in a prepared statement.
“The Byhalia Connection project secured the federal environmental permit required for the project following more than 10,000 hours of environmental field study and analysis,” Martin said. “The health and safety of the communities where we operate remain our top priorities and we will continue to provide facts about the project in discussions with community members, business owners and local elected officials.”
In his first day in office, Biden issued an executive order in which he directed all federal agencies to reevaluate their strategies for dealing with climate change, which is believed to be related to the use of fossil fuels like oil and gas.
However, that directive didn’t prevent the Corps of Engineers from issuing the permit for the Byhalia Connection.
“It’s an issue that the president certainly needs to look at,” said Cohen, a Memphis Democrat.
Cohen pointed out that Memphis is in an earthquake zone, where a serious quake could rupture the pipeline and cause oil to seep into the city’s underground aquifer.
“It’s a serious issue, when you look at what happened with our water supply this past week,” Cohen said.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division issued a boil water alert after days of freezing temperatures caused some water mains to break and water pressure within the system to drop significantly.
It’s not known when or if Biden will respond to Cohen’s letter.
Meanwhile, the Memphis City Council is scheduled to consider a resolution opposing the pipeline project at a meeting Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The resolution asks MLGW to take action to block the pipeline from being built above one of the city’s main wellfields for drinking water.
Some property owners along the route have opted not to sell the rights to use their land, leading Plains to file lawsuits seeking to gain access to that land through eminent domain proceedings. Those lawsuits are pending.
Topics
Byhalia Connection U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen
Blake Fontenay
Blake Fontenay’s 27-year journalism career has taken him to many newspapers in four states. However, he had never returned to work in any of the other cities where he had been before until the opportunity to report for the Daily Memphian presented itself. He covers business for the Daily Memphian.
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