Social justice organizers target city and county for tougher regulations to prevent future pipelines msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Since February 2020, the Byhalia Pipeline, a joint venture of Valero and Plains All American Pipeline, has been trying to gain control of part of Johnson-Tutwiler’s land, which is along the route of the proposed 49-mile Byhalia Connection oil pipeline. The route would run through multiple majority-Black neighborhoods in south-west Memphis, and researchers and activists say a spill could threaten the city’s public water source: an aquifer the size of Lake Michigan.
Johnson-Tutwiler does not currently reside on the stretch of land the company wants – .08 of an acre temporarily and .11 of an acre permanently – but it would prevent her or other family members from ever building a house. “That was the only thing that I had that my mom left with us that we could pass down through the lines of the family,” she said.
CBS News CBS News April 1, 2021, 10:05 AM This land means a whole lot to me: Property owners, advocates in Memphis fight to stop pipeline project This land means a whole lot to me, he told CBS News Adriana Diaz.
The 80-year-old is among several Memphis landowners fighting to keep a crude oil pipeline from cutting through their property.
Robinson and others, like Scottie Fitzgerald, said they are being robbed of their land and livelihood. This, to me, it is hurtful. I am offended, Fitzgerald said.
The two energy companies overseeing the project plan to build a pipeline about 4 feet underground. It would stretch 49 miles in order to connect two existing pipelines transporting crude oil to the Gulf Coast.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) urged president Joe Biden Monday to rescind a federal permit for the Byhalia Connection pipeline ahead of a possible Tuesday.