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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Owners of an oil pipeline under construction in south Louisiana say the 162-mile-long (260.7-kilometer) project is almost 90 percent complete and will be in service soon, despite numerous protests and multiple court battles.
“We anticipate being in service by the end of the year,” Alex Daniel, a spokesman for Energy Transfer Partners, said in an email this week — days before a state judge in rural St. Martin Parish in southwest Louisiana was to hear the latest court arguments. Energy Transfer is the majority owner of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project.
In the latest legal battle, environmentalists and landowners plan to argue at a Friday court hearing that the project owners trespassed on private property without completing the necessary process, known as expropriation, to obtain it — and that the expropriation process itself in Louisiana is unconstitutional.
“They constructed this pipeline without the legal authority to do so,” said Bill Quigley, an attorney and Loyola University law professor who is among the lawyers handling the landowners’ case for free.
Louisiana law allows a company to take land for a project deemed in the public interest through expropriation, which involves court filings and an agreement to pay the owner what the land is worth. Owners of some of the St. Martin Parish land in question say Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC didn’t complete the process in some cases, and made insufficient effort to identify, find and contact some owners.
“This summer I learned that they were in fact on the property in full construction mode,” said property owner Peter Aaslestad, who lives out of state but talked of deep family roots in Louisiana during a news conference this week.
Moreover, pipeline opponents and the landowners say the pipeline project is not for the public good, but for private gain at the expense of potential environmental damage from spills. They also say Louisiana allows too much power to private companies in the taking of property, violating the Louisiana and U.S. constitutions.
Ideally, from the pipeline opponents’ standpoint, the judge would declare that the pipeline on the swampy acreage in question was built illegally and that it must be disassembled and the land returned to its former state. Quigley conceded in the telephone news conference that that is unlikely. A more realistic possibility is that the judge would order damages for the landowners.
State District Judge Keith Comeaux could issue a ruling Friday that would resolve the dispute in favor of one side or the other or he could keep it alive for a later trial. Any ruling he makes is certain to be appealed. Whether it will stop or delay the pipeline at this point is unclear.
Daniel said Energy Transfer would not comment on the litigation.
Katherine Aaslestad, brother of Peter and another participant in the legal case, said she hopes owners of the pipeline project will be held accountable. “My objective is to be a steward of the land,” she said Tuesday, “and to encourage other landowners to stand up for their rights.”

The 2018 Louisiana sugar cane crop has the potential to set a record if weather conditions are favorable, the LSU AgCenter said.
“We have a tremendously good crop out there,” said LSU AgCenter sugar cane specialist Kenneth Gravois. “We could beat the record crop we had last year.”
Sugar recovery so far is not as good as last year, but the tonnage is high with many farms averaging more than 40 tons an acre.
“That’s really, really good,” Gravois said.
The total statewide yield is estimated at 16 million tons from 427,000 harvested acres. Last year’s crop was 15 million tons on 420,000 harvested acres.
Cane farming is Louisiana’s third-biggest farming or fishing enterprise, worth $567 million in 2017-18 to Louisiana farmers.
Gravois doubts that sugar recovery will be as high as last year’s record of 246 pounds of sugar per ton of cane. Total sugar production for Louisiana should be near the amount of last year’s production of 1.82 million tons of sugar.
In many fields stalks have fallen over from weather events, but harvesters are still able to cut the downed cane. Much of this crop was planted with the variety L01-299, and it doesn’t lodge as bad as some previous varieties, Gravois said.
Fields also are muddy from frequent rainfall, and that makes for a sloppy harvest with more equipment maintenance and breakdowns. Sugar mills also have to remove the mud when the cane is processed into raw sugar, he said.
The wet field conditions have also prevented some farmers from planting. Although it’s not too late to plant cane, the window of opportunity is closing fast. The amount of unplanted fallow acreage is only 1 to 2 percent, but some farmers have a significant amount of unplanted acreage, he said.
The cold snap in mid-November shouldn’t affect the crop at all because the temperatures won’t reach the critical point of sub-26 degrees. At that point, he said, the cane stalks break open and allow damaging microorganisms to enter the plant and inflict damage that affects sucrose recovery.
Mills are planning to operate until mid-January, he said.
Blair Hebert, LSU AgCenter sugarcane agent for Iberia, St. Martin, St. Mary, Vermilion, Acadia and Lafayette parishes, said rainy weather has been frustrating for farmers.
“We can’t have a couple of nice days. We’re 45 days into the harvest, and I bet we’ve had less than 10 good days,” Hebert said.
Growers are hoping the mid-November cold front will bring several consecutive days of dry weather.
Tonnage is high, close to 40 tons per acre, but sugar recovery is less than last year, Hebert said.
The rutting of fields by harvest equipment will require farmers to work in the spring to get the land back in shape, he said. Standing water in some fields has compounded the harvest problems, and farmers have to work constantly to keep mud off roads.
Some fields may not get planted because of wet conditions, and weed control in fields that were planted has been a challenge because the rainfall has complicated herbicide applications, Hebert said.
Area sugar mills had been projected to end grinding by Jan. 5-7, but that has been extended to Jan. 10-15.

January 25, 1925- November 15, 2018
Amy Lyall Alfred, 93, a resident of Patterson, passed away peacefully on Thursday, November 15, 2018, at Patterson Health Care Center.
Amy was born on January 25, 1925, in Morgan City, the daughter of John Kenneth Lyall and Margaret Gast Lyall.
Amy was raised in Gibson and graduated from Morgan City High School where she was a Mu Sigma Honor Society Student and star basketball player. She began working at what is now Hancock Whitney Bank in 1945 and in 1948 she took time off to raise her family. In 1960, she went back to the bank and retired after working 31 years. Amy loved her children and her grandchildren, always watching them in their various activities; she absolutely loved baseball and tolerated football. When she wasn’t working or raising her family she enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and loved sewing. She looked forward to her family trips traveling to Pennsylvania to see her sisters. Amy was an adoring fan of Elvis Presley and loved listening to his music. She loved her church, Pharr Chapel United Methodist Church, where she was the bookkeeper for many years.
She will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by four children, Callan J. Alfred Jr. of Morgan City, Kenneth E. Alfred and wife Judy of Bayou Vista, Mark A. Alfred and wife Dale of Morgan City, and Lisa A. Broussard and husband Jud of Iowa, Louisiana; eight grandchildren, Jessica S. Friedman and husband Greg, Melissa A. Geisler and husband Neal, Michele L. Alfred, Kenneth J. Alfred, Jacob M. Alfred and wife Tiffany, Lyall J. Alfred and wife Erin, James B. Broussard and wife Ashleigh, and Sarah E. Osmund and husband Mike; seven great-grandchildren, Abigail, Gavin, Zachary, Victoria, Beckett, Oliver and Lilly; one great-great-grandchild, Aubrey; three step grandchildren, Tommy, Meg and Felicia; six step great-grandchildren, Kade, Kobyn, Tysen, Brynn, Vivian and Tymberlie; and one honorary grandchild, Dawn Bernard Price.
Amy was preceded in death by her parents, John and Margaret Gast Lyall; husband, Callan J. Alfred; mother-in-law and father-in-law, William J. and Ida L. Alfred; and two sisters, Rita Figel and her husband Paul, and Evelyn Drudul and her husband Cy.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, at Pharr Chapel United Methodist Church with Rev. Ann Sutton officiating. A visitation will be held from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday, November 19, 2018, at Twin City Funeral Home and the visitation will resume from 9 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday at Pharr Chapel Methodist Church. Following services, Amy will be laid to rest with her husband in the Morgan City Cemetery Mausoleum.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions may be given to Pharr Chapel United Methodist Church, 517 Federal Avenue, Morgan City, LA 70380 to honor Amy’s memory.

HARVEST RALLY
At Little Zion Baptist Church, 2746 Sixth St., Berwick, 8 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 18. Speaker Travis Short. Public invited.

USHERS’ DAY
Service at Mt. Era Baptist Church, 406 Lawrence St., Morgan City, 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25. Public invited.