Activists travel past the site where the Bayou Bridge pipeline will cross underneath the Atchafalaya river. Photograph: Joe Whittle for the Guardian
Activists fight to stop construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which endangers an ecosystem that is one of the most important bird habitats in the western hemisphere
Deep within the humid green heart of the largest river swamp in North America, a battle is being waged over the future of the most precious resource of all: water.
On one side of the conflict is a small band of rugged and ragtag activists led by Indigenous matriarchs. On the other side is the relentless machinery of the fossil fuel industry and all of its might. And at the center of the struggle is the Atchafalaya river, a 135 mile-long distributary of the Mississippi river that empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
The activists gather at L’eau Est La Vie Camp, a resistance encampment set up to resist the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which will cross directly through the river basin to connect shale crude from the Dakota Access pipeline to a refinery in St James, Louisiana. From there, it will be shipped primarily to China.
The “water protectors”, as they call themselves, are camped near the path of the pipeline. Many live locally, but others come from afar, often hailing from tribes affected by […]
Full article: The women fighting a pipeline that could destroy precious wildlife
More about women and water around the world:
Water and women: we need to know more
Women’s Day: Access to water crucial to emancipating women – AWWASHNet
More about the Atchafalaya and threatened ecosystems:
Water Protectors Charged With Felonies Under Louisiana’s Anti-Protest Law
A Tale of Two Basins: Why One is Thriving While the Other is Dying
