A Midwestern energy company on Friday canceled controversial plans for a $ 2.5 billion oil export terminal and pipeline in the parish of Plaquemines after encountering numerous obstacles to development. Instead, Tallgrass Energy Partners said it would consider other uses for the site.
Among the factors cited for the company’s decision were climate change, the shift from burning fossil fuels for energy, and objections from local residents that the Plaquemines liquids terminal project would be built on top of it. cemetery and would disrupt other cultural sites.
Thick woods invaded the old house of Plantation Sainte-Rosalie more than 70 years ago.
Located just upstream of the Mississippi River from Ironton on the West Rim, the 200-acre site is owned by the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Transit District and is leased to Tallgrass. It was once part of the St. Rosalie plantation, and the people of Ironton, many of whom were descendants of people who were enslaved there, opposed the project.
William Moler, CEO of Leawood, Kan., And spokesperson Phyllis Hammond, said Tallgrass downsized the project following a cultural survey of the site.
“Integrity and respect are core values at Tallgrass,” Moler said. “As part of our PLT clearance process, our cultural investigative work identified a cemetery and potential artifacts consistent with what community members shared about the history of the site. Since then, we have reduced our development footprint to protect these areas and have engaged with the Ironton community and other local stakeholders on an appropriate path to commemorate them. “
The downsizing spurred a “broader reassessment effort” in August, which led to Friday’s cancellation, Hammond added.
A huge proposed oil export terminal in the parish of Plaquemines would likely undermine Louisiana’s $ 2 billion supply to restore the degraded wetland …
The terminal is said to have stored up to 20 million barrels of oil.
It would also have reduced the effectiveness of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project, a $ 2 billion proposal to build new land on Louisiana’s fragile coastline by diverting some of the river’s flow into the bay. of Barataria. Moler said the company would withdraw its permit application and its agreement with the National Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
Port of Plaquemines executive director Sandy Sanders partially attributed Tallgrass’s decision to market changes as the world seeks to move away from oil and gas. The company’s announcement came 11 days after Phillips 66 announced it would shut down its oil refinery at Alliance, 3½ miles upstream from Ironton, and convert the property to a fuel terminal.
Along with Tallgrass, the port is looking for other ways to expand its Ironton property, perhaps for a distribution center or warehouse. Either way, Sanders said, “it will be nothing carbon. It will be very green, friendly and respectful.”
An export terminal would be built on a slave cemetery, emit 566,466 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year
Hammond said, “As we strive to strike a balance between the need to decarbonize and the need for safe, reliable and affordable energy, almost all infrastructure decisions we make are guided by our decarbonization goals. ”
Ironton resident and native Wilke DeClouet said the community was still grappling with the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida on August 29, but was delighted Tallgrass did not move forward with an oil terminal . He is one of the few residents still living in his house, after Ida’s storm surge flooded the most.
For Ironton, he said, it has been one fight after another, and even that victory looks marred as the hurricane’s debris remains uncleaned by the side of the street.
“I am thinking of leaving,” DeClouet said. “I don’t have to put up with this. I’m one of the few [who] I can afford to live wherever I want, but I grew up here. “
On Tuesday, the leaders of the parish of Plaquemines assessed the potential economic damage that could loom with the loss of one of the biggest e…
This work is supported by a grant funded by the Walton Family Foundation and administered by the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Email Halle Parker at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter, @_thehalparker.