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House Approves Bill To Make Pipeline Trespass A Crime

Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News

LA PIPELINE BILL -  Under Louisiana law,  it’s illegal for anyone to trespass on major infrastructure sites like oil refineries.   A new bill was introduced this week to make the same law apply to pipelines.  It was drafted as a response to the protests that happened last year in North Dakota to halt construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.  The bill proposes to deter protesters from damaging oil pipelines across Louisiana – making it a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison or a $10,000 fine.    Representative Major Thibaut, Democrat from New Roads, told Public Radio WRKF the bill’s purpose.  
“Should they blow it up, or poke holes 

Credit Courtesy: La. House of Representatives
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Courtesy: La. House of Representatives
Rep. Major Thibault, D-New Roads, LA

into it, or start turning valves the wrong way and cause some problems, it absolutely puts more stringent penalties on those people," says Thibaut.  
Rep. Thibault says his bill is aimed at assuring public safety.

“Not only does it pose a big danger to the people who are working in that area, the people themselves who are causing the damage but also the communities that are surrounded by these pipelines,” he says.

This bill comes as environmental groups 

Credit Courtesy: Advocate Newspaper
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Courtesy: Advocate Newspaper
Anne Rolfe, Founding Director - La. Bucket Brigade

protest the construction of the "Bayou Bridge Pipeline" which could carry oil across much of South Louisiana through the  Atchafalaya Basin.  One of the environmental groups is the "Louisiana Bucket Brigade". Anne Rolfes is the founding director, she says this bill is not necessary.

"It would create penalties for things that are already illegal — we don’t need it," Rolfes says.  Rolfes suggests that the bill is less about public safety and more about protecting the oil industry by discouraging public demonstrations. 

"The reason that we engage in civil disobedience is because the system isn’t protecting people in Louisiana."

House Bill 727 has  been approved by the full House. It goes before a Senate Judiciary committee  today.

Credit Courtesy: Army Corps of Engineers
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Courtesy: Army Corps of Engineers
The Bayou Bridge Pipeline would stretch across much of South Louisiana including the Atchafalaya Basin.

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.