350 Wenatchee Climate Conversations NCW

Jeanne —

In case you missed it, here’s the video from last night’s powerful program, where we heard first-hand from first responders what can happen when a carbon dioxide pipeline ruptures and explodes — like what went down in Satartia, Mississippi in 2020.

Journalist Dan Zegart provided an overview of what happened when the Denbury-owned highly-pressurized pipeline began flooding the area with CO2, an asphyxiant that caused some Satartia victims to foam at the mouth and suffer seizures, and stalled drivers on the road when their vehicles’ internal combustion engines failed.

Two first responders then shared their unique and powerful stories of how they arrived on the accident scene in Satartia — fully unprepared, because the pipeline company had not shared what kind of danger it had put the community in by piping CO2 underneath their community. While wearing protective equipment that was running low on oxygen, they piled unconscious victims they encountered in stalled cars into their rescue vehicle, worried it too might fail.

We are extremely grateful to Jack Willingham (Director, Yazoo County, MS Emergency Management Agency), and Jerry Briggs (Warren County, MS Fire Coordinator) for joining our program, and sharing with us their heroic efforts to save the lives of people in Satartia while in the line of duty that day.

Unfortunately, the grave safety risks and dangers that these proposed carbon pipelines pose to Midwest landowners and communities are being downplayed and brushed off by their corporate backers.

During the Q&A segment, the panelists were asked what kinds of protections local communities can put in place, since there is little to no federal oversight of carbon pipelines.

The Pipeline Fighters Hub previously hosted a webinar on May 23, “Counties and States Can Regulate Pipelines,” and resident attorney and pipeline expert Paul Blackburn published a blog on the topic: “Does Federal Law Prohibit Counties From Imposing Setbacks on CO2 Pipelines?”

Paul also authored a Sample County Ordinance that can be adapted by counties in Nebraska (and elsewhere, depending on state law) to put in place common-sense protections against carbon pipelines.

As landowners across Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Illinoiscontinue to organize against these risky carbon pipelines and their abuse of eminent domain for their own private, taxpayer-funded gains, they are taking their concerns to County Boards and demanding action to protect their lives and livelihoods.

We stand with them!

The Pipeline Fighters Hub Team

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The Pipeline Fighters Hub is a project of Bold Alliance, whose mission is to protect the land and water from risky corporate projects.

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Pipeline Fighters Hub
P.O. Box 254
Hastings, NE 68902 US

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