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Court lifts ban on Basin pipeline work

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 11:08am

BATON ROUGE (AP) — A company may resume construction of a crude oil pipeline in a Louisiana swamp, a project that has been on hold for nearly three weeks, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
A lower-court judge had suspended construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline in the Atchafayala Basin, but a divided three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to lift that order.
It remains to be seen, however, how much work Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC will be able to complete before rising water in the basin forces another work stoppage, possibly lasting for months. Construction in the Basin began in January.
On Feb. 23, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick sided with environmental groups and issued a preliminary injunction stopping all Bayou Bridge pipeline construction work in the Basin until a lawsuit the groups had filed against the project is resolved.
The appeals court panel’s majority opinion said the company is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that Dick abused her discretion in granting the injunction.
Dick should have allowed the case to proceed “on the merits” and sought additional information about the “deficiencies” she identified.
Judge W. Eugene Davis of the 5th Circuit dissented, saying he agreed with Dick that an environmental assessment of the project by the Corps did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.
A spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline company’s majority owner, said it was pleased with the ruling.
“We will begin mobilizing for construction activities as soon as possible and will do so in full compliance with all permit conditions,” the Dallas-based company’s spokeswoman, Alexis Daniel, said in a statement.
Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman said the latest ruling is a setback but “not the end of this fight.”
“We will keep fighting in court to protect the Atchafalaya Basin and demand that oil and gas companies such as Energy Transfer Partners finally be held accountable for decades of carelessness, incompetence and greed,” Hasselman said in an email.
Dick concluded the project’s irreversible environmental damage outweighed the economic harm that a delay brought to the company. The judge said the project potentially threatens the hydrology of the basin and “poses the threat of destruction of already diminishing wetlands.” She also agreed with environmental groups that centuries-old “legacy” trees can’t be replaced once they’re cut down.
During a 5th Circuit hearing Tuesday, company attorney Miguel Estrada said “time is of the essence” because water levels in the basin are rising due to the rainy season. A permit issued by the Corps requires the company to stop construction if river levels reach a certain height. Estrada said the company could resume work for weeks before water levels reach that threshold and possibly remain above it for several months.
Environmental groups’ lawyers said water levels already had reached a level that made it unlawful for the company to resume pipeline construction in the basin. After Tuesday’s hearing, however, Hasselman said the company can still do “a whole lot of damage” if the company resumes clearing a path for the pipeline in most of the basin.
The basin accounts for approximately 25 miles (35 kilometers) of the pipeline’s roughly 160-mile-long (260-kilometer) path from Lake Charles to St. James Parish. Dick’s order only applied to the basin and didn’t prevent the company from working elsewhere along the pipeline’s route.
The basin is the nation’s largest river swamp and includes roughly 880,000 acres (356,000 hectares) of forested wetlands, according to the groups’ lawsuit.
Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC is a joint venture of Energy Transfer Partners and Phillips 66. Energy Transfer Partners built the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that sparked a string of violent clashes between protesters and police in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017. The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the last link in a pipeline network connecting the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota with Louisiana refineries and export terminals.

LMOGA elects Palmer, Moncada

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 11:06am

The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association Board of Directors elected Frederick Palmer as chairman and Gloria M. Moncada as vice chair at a board meeting held in conjunction with its annual meeting Feb. 28 in New Orleans.
Palmer is state government relations manager, Southeast U.S., for Shell Oil Co. and a long-time member and supporter of LMOGA.
“LMOGA will advocate for safe, responsible policy and for a supportive business climate that will promote industry growth in Louisiana,” Palmer said in his remarks at the Association’s Annual Meeting.
Moncada is the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery manager and a new LMOGA board member. Moncada stepped into the position at the beginning of the year returning to the Baton Rouge refinery where she began her career in 1992 as a chemical engineer.

Big changes may be ahead for Louisiana gambling

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 11:05am

By TYLER BRIDGES, The Advocate

Riverboat casinos would move onto land and get more space for their slot machines. Racetracks would offer more slot machines and betting on sports.
Harrah’s would receive a 30-year extension in its state contract to operate a monopoly casino in New Orleans and would build another hotel. Truck stop casinos would face fewer restrictions for operating their video poker emporiums.
Gambling interests will be seeking legislative approval beginning Tuesday to make these changes — and others — in what represents the biggest effort to expand the state’s gambling laws since the modern creation of the industry in Louisiana in the early 1990s.
Louisiana gambling industry could see big changes during upcoming legislative session
Promoters of the gambling measures say they will create or save jobs and will generate more tax revenue at a time when lawmakers are reluctant to raise income or sales taxes to fix the state’s budget shortfall.
Gene Mills, who is president of Louisiana Family Forum, said the various gambling interests are pushing 37 different bills.
Mills said his organization will oppose nearly all of the measures because they would either expand gambling or loosen existing regulations.
“There seems to be a coalescing around the idea that modernization is important for the industry,” he said. “But there are reasons that we put the original regulations in place: to safeguard against proliferation and corruption. There appears to be a conversation among people in the industry that everybody gets a little bit of something. They all seem to think they can move their bills forward.”
The initial hearing on gambling legislation gave them reason to be optimistic.
The first two gambling bills — sought by the truck stop casinos — passed the Senate Judiciary B Committee last week with none of the four committee members asking any substantive questions on the potential pitfalls of the legislation.
State Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, delayed presenting Senate Bill 184 until the truck stop casinos’ lobbyist, Alton Ashy, was sitting beside him, and Martiny then let Ashy do most of the talking.
SB 184 would allow the truck stop casinos to no longer have to report their fuel sales to the State Police. Under current law, truck stops have to average at least 100,000 gallons of fuel sales per month — with diesel sales accounting for at least 40,000 gallons — to be able to offer the maximum number of 50 video poker machines. Lower fuel sales means fewer machines.
Ashy told the committee members that many truck stop casinos are having trouble meeting the threshold needed to offer more machines because the construction of highway bypasses has cut them off from passing trucks.
Is there any downside to changing the law?
The committee members made no public effort to find out.
The current wording of SB184 seems to allow truck stop casinos that sell less than 100,000 gallons of fuel per month to expand to the 50-machine limit through the elimination of the State Police oversight. But in an interview Monday, Ashy said an amendment will be offered Tuesday when SB184 is heard on the Senate floor to specify that truck stop casinos would not be allowed to have more video poker machines even without the fuel sales minimum.
Martiny’s SB184 also would allow truck stop casinos to close restaurants that they now have to keep open for at least 12 hours a day.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the video poker industry could come from Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego.
In an interview Thursday, he said he worries that the money lost at the truck stop casinos is money not spent at local businesses.
“Video poker seems to be more in neighborhoods,” Alario said.
The Senate president also expressed a broader concern about the raft of gambling legislation.
“Every form of gaming has decided if somebody’s doing something, they want a piece of action, and I’m not sure each of those things are in the best interest of the people,” he said. “Further expansion of gaming I don’t think is very good for our economy as a whole.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards has yet to speak against any of the specific gambling bills other than to say he opposes “expansion.”
The governor appears willing to support the major legislation sought by the riverboat casinos, Senate Bill 316, which will be heard by the Judiciary B Committee on Tuesday. State Sen. Ronnie Johns, R-Lake Charles, is the sponsor. It would allow the 15 floating casinos to move onto land, within 1,200 feet of their designated berth space and a limit of 2,365 gambling machines would replace the original 1991 cap of 30,000 square feet of gambling space.
Judiciary B will hear other pro-gambling bills on Tuesday.
The governor also appears to support the measure pushed by Harrah’s, House Bill 553. It would grant the casino company the state operating contract extension and the right to build a new hotel and food court as part of a $350 million investment. HB553 is scheduled to be heard Wednesday morning by the Criminal Justice Committee.
Harrah’s New Orleans pushing to build 24-story hotel, entertainment venue in city
That committee also will hear measures sought by the four racetrack casinos — known as “racinos” — that would allow them to expand their gambling offerings.
Supporters of pro-gambling legislation before the Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday or Thursday are: House Speaker Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia; state Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge; state Rep. Major Thibaut, D-New Roads; and state Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans.
Judiciary B is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 417 sought by owners of a riverboat casino in Bossier Parish who have expressed a desire to move it to rural Tangipahoa Parish. SB417, sponsored by state Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, would add the shallow Tangipahoa to the list of waterways permitted for riverboat casinos and would authorize a parishwide vote in November on whether to approve the relocation.

Clay wins hospital employee honor

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 11:03am

Terrebonne General Medical Center has named Aaren Clay as the March Employee of the Month.
Clay, a TGMC employee for over three years, works in the Information Technology department as a clinical project coordinator.
Three years ago, Clay assumed the role of mmediately jumped into her new role with an enthusiastic and proactive attitude. In the midst of the transition, TGMC switched to EPIC, the electronic medical record system, and Clay was tasked with several major assignments to ensure a smooth transition. Clay accepted the challenge with grace earning admiration from her colleagues.
“I work with an amazing group of people in both IT and Laboratory. We’ve been through a lot of changes over the past couple of years,” said Clay.

Mr. Charlie joins the Chamber

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 11:01am

The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce welcomes its newest member, The Rig Museum, the only museum based on an authentic offshore drilling rig. It's International Petroleum Museum & Exposition Inc. Micah Allen, assistant to the manager, is shown with Chamber President Donna F. Meyer. The main exhibit of the Rig Museum is the historic drilling rig Mr. Charlie, and is the only place in the world where the general public can walk aboard an authentic offshore drilling rig. Guided tours of the rig are given 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, weather permitting. The newest expansion to the museum is the Diving & ROV Historical Preservation Museum.

Jim Brown: Legislators should have some skin in the game

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 10:51am

By JIM BROWN

The Louisiana Legislature just completed a “do nothing” session that proved to be a stalemate towards solving the state’s financial crisis. A new regular session has begun with few signs that anything substantive will come about. By law, no new tax matters can be considered in this even numbered year. So what’s the problem in getting some cooperative effort?
Look no further than a new book on the New York Times bestselling list by mathematician and philosopher Nicholas Taleb. His premise states: “Never trust anyone who doesn’t have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will profit and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them.”
Simply put, the legislature often does not function in the public interest because the members have nothing at risk. There are no costs. They have no skin in the game.
Governors have to face the results of their actions. Policies can be put in motion that can affect thousands of lives throughout the state. Mayors also face the outcomes of their policy decisions. But legislators rarely face repercussions of their votes on their in-actions. Particularly in Louisiana, the majority of lawmakers face little scrutiny and get easily re-elected. They are showered with campaign contributions by a herd of lobbyists that surround the supposed “hallowed halls” of the state capitol.
As Tom Aswell points out in his Louisiana Voice column: “When legislators are unable/unwilling to fix the state’s fiscal problems, they certainly see to their own financial well-being.” During the just completed special legislative session, 41 campaign fundraisers were held for 46 different legislators. So some would argue that at least something got done. But who were the beneficiaries?
Defenders of the current system will argue that there is a day of reckoning when voters can pass judgment on the actions of legislators at the polls. But gerrymandering has made a mockery of any real accountability when election time comes around. Here’s what ends up happening. During election season, voters don’t choose their legislators. No, under the current system in Louisiana, legislators choose their voters.
The problem is one of gerrymandering. District lines are not drawn by the legislature to reflect geographical or political balance, but are specifically crafted to favor the incumbent or some other partisan choice. When legislators do the redistricting, the norm seems to be that the state ends up with meandering footprints meticulously designed, it would seem, to ensure that no incumbent will face serious opposition, regardless of how the political winds are blowing.
So the question for Louisiana voters is this: Are they that concerned that the legislature is, for all practical purposes, creating their own voters? Does it matter that legislators in Louisiana really have no skin in the game? Is this healthy in the Bayou State — or in any other state? Many think it’s not.
“The self-dealing quality of legislators drawing districts for themselves or for their partisans has basically collapsed the enterprise,” says Samuel Issacharoff, a law professor who is an expert on redistricting. “There’s an increasing sense of revulsion among voters at this self-dealing. It is somewhat scandalous that there are few competitive elections anymore.”
We always hear the dictum that elections have consequences. But in Louisiana, they don’t. The legislature is allowed to reapportion itself, so lawmakers vote for a reapportionment plan that protects their own self-interest.
They basically surround their districts with voters who either don’t care how lawmakers vote and often don’t vote at all, or by voters who are only concerned about party labels. Yellow dog democrats and knee jerk republicans both come to mind.
Author Taleb writes that politicians never have to pay for the results of their decisions and that they are “conveniently separated from the consequences of their actions.” The Legislature should cut out the gerrymandering and let an outside group draw district lines on a balanced and fair basis. It’s time for politicians to get some skin in the game.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all of his columns at www.jimbrownusa.com.

Guest editorial: Public records belong to the people

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 10:49am

A new study by The Associated Press claims the federal government censored or withheld information more often last year than it has in the past decade.
A few of the numbers from the study are troubling:
Of the 823,222 requests for information from the federal government, 78 percent of the records were censored or withheld.
When the government released nothing at all, it claimed in more than half of the cases that it couldn’t find the requested information.
Only one in five requests was fully honored.
It is impossible to know exactly which of the requested records should have been turned over to the people or organizations requesting them.
But it seems unlikely that there would be a legitimate reason for so much information to be withheld.
More important than the numbers is the opportunity the study gives the public to consider public records in general.
In Louisiana, where we have a fairly strong and specific set of public records laws, we have recourse if someone refuses to release information to which we are entitled.
But people are often left on their own to fight for access to public information, often without the ability to know exactly what is what is not public.
The AP investigation does bring the issue into some prominence, offering a useful chance to remind residents and public officials that public records can and should be shared when they are requested.
They belong, after all, to the public – not to whichever politician,
bureaucrat or agency happens to be housing them.
Too often, public servants forget that records often are public and that just about anyone has the right to request access to them.
If you want to know, for instance, how much rent the Terrebonne Parish School Board or the Lafourche Parish government pays for its various buildings, you have the right to request that information.
And the person taking the request cannot ask you why you want it.
The general rule should be that unless there is a specific reason why the record cannot be released, it should be made public whenever it is requested.
Technological advancements continue to make doing so easier.
Unfortunately, if government agencies or employees are unwilling to share the information, computers and other useful tools don’t help.
The AP investigation should give all of us a reason to remember that our government ultimately works for us.
And our ability to check on what it is doing is a crucial part of keeping the system in good working order.
When the government is unable or unwilling to share public information, it raises concerns about what it could be hiding and why.
— Houma Courier

Robert Walters: Spring's eternal promise of rebirth

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 10:47am

By ROBERT WALTERS

Editor's note: Mr. Robert Walters died on Saturday, Aug.13, 2005. He was a native of Mississippi and a resident of Archibald, Louisiana. Mr. Walters wrote this column over 26 years ago, and it is a wonderful reminder of the cycle of life and death. We thought it would be fitting to reprint it at this time.

The eternal promise of spring, the first daffodil, the tiny buds forming on the elm tree; a faint but distinct musical note from the mockingbird, serves to remind us of the cycle of life.
The passing of one season into the next reminds one of the continuity and the never changing change in God’s plan.
It reminds us that the dark days of winter are but a season in life; that the promise of spring is a reminder of eternity; that no one ever really grows old, we just skip from season-to-season on a journey that will inevitably lead to another season, in another place, where the seasons have become an eternal spring, and an eternal promise fulfilled.
With the first sign of spring we begin to search for the signs of new life. We see the rebirth of the creatures and the re-creation of the created.
The poet has said it well, “to see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven on a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.”
The darkest days always turn to light, the chill of winter fades away and the life giving quality of our sun returns to rejoice with us.
Sometimes we can hear spring before we can see it approaching; the late night call of the wild geese as they sing their way north, the cooing of the mourning dove seeking the company of a soon coming courtship.
The cardinal visits the feeder less frequently and becomes more interested in the less colorful female, than in the sunflower seed provided.
In the spring time more than any other time, it becomes impossible for me to understand the people who never seem to notice the miracles all around us.
The idea that these miracles could have occurred without a master plan, and can keep occurring eternally and right on time without a guiding hand is amazing.
Each spring is a blessing, the fulfillment of a promise, and the renewal of another one. Each of us are given a very limited number to enjoy before our inevitable invitation into that eternal spring that awaits us all. To allow just one to pass without notice or appreciation is like throwing away a treasured part of the meaning of life.
For spring is part of the meaning of life. When winter approaches the chilly winds turn the leaves to crimson, or brown, they hang on tenaciously but eventually fall to earth, from there to return from whence they came; the tree gently sleeps awaiting the eternal promise of regeneration and newness of life.
The passing of too many springtimes chill bones of the man. He too hangs on for a time. He wraps himself in another blanket to hide from the chill. But eventually he too must give up the struggle and return to the Mother Earth from whence he came. Like the tree, the old man sleeps, patiently awaiting the promise of another spring, in another place and in another time.
Enjoy the spring; watch the building of the nests and the mating of the birds, listen to the songs of life, the joy of love but prepare for the chill of the coming winter.

Berwick pulls away from Patterson in run-rule victory

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 10:43am

The Berwick Panthers broke open a close game in the fourth with rival Patterson, turning it into a rout in an 11-1 win in five innings in District 8-3A action in Berwick Tuesday. Tied at 1 heading to the bottom of the fourth, Patterson scored seven runs in the frame for an 8-1 lead. The Panthers added three runs in the bottom of the fifth to invoke the 10-run mercy rule. Berwick outhit Patterson, 14-4. Patrick Robertson led Berwick’s offense with a 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs and a stolen base. Other top Berwick offensive contributors were Brett Williams, 2-for-3 with a triple, two ...

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Vermilion Catholic rallies to upset Central Catholic, 11-6

Wed, 03/21/2018 - 10:39am

Fifth-ranked Vermilion Catholic rallied to upset second-ranked Central Catholic, 11-6, in District 7-1A softball action in Bayou Vista Tuesday. In a battle of top-five Division IV teams, Vermilion Catholic trailed 6-3 after three innings. However, the visitors and defending Division IV state runner-up scored eight unanswered runs for the win. Vermilion Catholic scored a run in the fourth, three each in the fifth and sixth innings and another in the top of the seventh. The loss snaps a six-game Central Catholic winning streak. Sara Thomas suffered the loss. In 4.2 innings, she surrendered five earned runs on nine hits. Taylor Picou led Central Catholic with ...