Clyde Robinson (80) was one of two landowners who opposed the construction of a pipeline through his acre of land in Memphis. Photo by Adrian Sanz ( AP ).Good climate news can be difficult to find these days, but there are some from Tennessee. The company that planned to build an oil pipeline that would run through Black neighborhoods of Memphis was stopped by a Friday announcement.AdvertisementWard Archer, the founder of Protect Our Aquifer (a community group fighting the pipeline), told the Memphis Appeal that the stars were aligned for the fight. Sometimes the good guys win, and this is one such time.If the 49-mile Byhalia Connection pipeline had been completed, it would have passed through Tennessee and Mississippi to connect two pipelines that eventually transported crude oil from Texas to Louisiana. Plains All American, one of the owners, stated in a statement that the decision to abandon the Byhalia project was due lower U.S. crude oil production as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.The Byhalia project, despite its financial difficulties, has been under increasing pressure due to its route through predominantly Black and Brown communities. The pipeline would run through several South Memphis neighborhoods, including Boxtown, which was founded in the Civil War by freed slaves. Boxtown was a victim of neglect by the city. A 1979 newspaper article stated that the average household income was less than $3,000 per year. Many of the streets were still dirt and that residents were not able to access water or electricity despite having paid for them.Boxtown and the surrounding areas are home to many industrial facilities. A 2013 study revealed that there was a four-fold increase in the risk of developing cancer in Southwest Memphis. Anti-pipeline campaigners as well as community members expressed concern about the potential impact on nearby neighborhoods like Boxtown from a pipeline spillage or leakage. The pipeline would have crossed an important aquifer, which supplies drinking water to these communities. (The company appears to have been somewhat insensitive to these concerns. A Byhalia representative incited widespread anger among community members after he described last year's proposed route as the "point of least resistance".Residents might have been concerned that the Byhalia companies have a history of corruption. According to the project website, Byhalia is part a joint venture of subsidiaries of two energy companies. Plains operates several ventures in the U.S. and Canada and Valero, an oil and gas international company. Plains' subsidiary would have operated the pipeline. It was responsible for the worst oil spillage in California history in 2015, and the largest on-land leakage in Canada in 2011.In recent months, the campaign against the pipeline attracted many opponents, some of which were high-profile. Al Gore, a former Vice P resident, called the plans a reckless and racist rip-off. This April op-ed echos the concerns of national environmental and racial injustice groups. Libertarian think tanks and politicians were critical of the company's proposal to use eminent domain for land in Black neighborhoods to construct the pipeline. In recent months, celebrities such as Jane Fonda and Justin Timberlake have voiced their opposition to the pipeline. The company was in several lawsuits regarding its eminent title claims. In response to local pressure, Memphis City Council was preparing to vote on a measure that would more strictly regulate pipelines such as Byhalia.AdvertisementAnti-pipeline activists have suffered several losses in recent months and the news of Byhalia's death is a welcome boost. While the Line 3 pipeline is currently being constructed in Michigan, the administration of Biden has protected it and maintained the Dakota Access pipeline operating during a lengthy lawsuit filed by the Standing Rock Sioux. This lawsuit was eventually thrown out. Although Byhalia had not yet begun construction, it had more similarities with the Keystone XL project, which, despite a decade-long fight and high-profile opposition, was still in place. There were also many questions about its viability than with these pipelines.The organizers of the local opposition claim victory, regardless of how the company made its decision.AdvertisementJustin Pearson, organizer of the Facebook Live said that we have shown Byhalia that we are not the path to least resistance. We are the path to resilience.
