A flurry of lawsuits filed locally in the 16th Judicial District Court have the potential of delaying the completion of the controversial Bayou Bridge Pipeline project that runs through the southern portion of Upper St. Martin Parish.
Construction of the pipeline has drawn protests from environmental groups and individual property owners along portions of the project, which stretches 163 miles between Lake Charles and St. James. But company officials have said they expect the project to be completed by October.
In a suit filed on July 23 against Jackson D. Fleder of Orleans Parish, Matthew D. Ozuna and Ronald R. Seifert of Texas, and Eleanor Goldfield of Sweden, Bayou Bridge attorneys seek a restraining order to prevent them from interfering with the company’s access to property in the Atchafalaya Basin in the path of the pipeline.
The defendants appear to be affiliated with the L’eau Est La Vie organization which has posted pictures and information on social media seeking support in halting completion of the pipeline.
The group’s web site describe the protests as “tree-sits” and claims that “people are putting their bodies and lives on the line to stop the project.”
On July 25 Bayou Bridge also filed a petition for expropriation against dozens of co-owners of 40.35 acres of Basin property in the path of the pipeline.
Then on July 27 a petition was filed by Peter K. Aaslestad of Virginia, a co-owner with his siblings of property in the path of the pipeline, asking the court to prevent Bayou Bridge from entering upon their property.
The suit claims the company, without the permission of the property owners, has already begun clearing a right of way for the pipeline.
But a hearing on that petition is not scheduled to be heard by Judge Keith Comeaux until Sept. 10.
