Energy Transfer, one of America’s most irresponsible pipeline operators, plans to build a massive crude oil pipeline right though the middle of Sabine Lake!
While construction alone jeopardizes Sabine Lake’s sensitive fisheries, because the Blue Marlin pipeline would handle enormous volumes of oil, a spill in the lake would be devastating, both environmentally and economically.
Homeowners and landowners along the proposed route also stand to have their land seized against their will to build the pipeline!
Our growing coalition stands in opposition to Energy Transfer’s dangerous plan to put Port Arthur, Beaumont and surrounding communities at risk of catastrophe.
Please join our campaign to persuade local, state and national leaders and policy makers to STOP Energy Transfer’s disastrous plan, and Save Sabine Lake.
Houston Chronicle: What a giant cake an East Texas pipeline have in common
The Orange County Record: Activists fight proposed Blue Marlin pipeline
The Advocate: Environmentalists take aim at new deepwater oil port
Port Arthur News: Meetings set regarding proposed pipeline
KBMT-TV: "Save Sabine Lake" coalition holds forum on Blue Marlin pipeline
Gulf Coast communities already bear the burden of the oil and petrochemical industry, including facility fires, toxic pollution, and increasingly frequent and severe hurricanes driven by climate change.
Our communities should not be put at additional risk so fossil fuel executives can line their pockets selling oil to Europe and Asia. Sign up today to be part of our campaign to persuade local, state and federal officials to STOP the Blue Marlin pipeline.
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ABOUT SABINE LAKE & BESSIE HEIGHTS MARSH
Sabine Lake and Bessie Heights Marsh are two of the most important fisheries and bird habitats in the Gulf region. Anglers and commercial fishermen, boaters, birdwatchers, and many other tourists travel to these areas throughout the year, providing economic opportunity to businesses in the region. These are also important habitats for migratory birds, and the world’s most endangered sea turtle.
Sabine Lake in particular is popular for both recreational and commercial fishing, and is home to highly-sensitive oyster reefs, which are critical to the overall health of the estuary and provide habitats for many fish species that fishermen target.
ABOUT THE BLUE MARLIN PIPELINE
Energy Transfer is seeking approval to build and operate a massive crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Port Arthur, TX and Cameron Parish, LA. If built, this facility would load 2 million barrels of domestically-produced crude oil per day onto oil tankers for export to European and Asian markets. The terminal project would include construction of a new 42-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline that would run through Sabine Lake and Bessie Heights Marsh.
If built, the Blue Marlin terminal and pipeline would put Gulf Coast communities and delicate ecosystems at risk. In particular, the pipeline would negatively impact Sabine Lake’s highly-sensitive oyster reefs and fisheries as a result of direct dredging, sedimentation, turbidity, degradation of water bottoms, pollution, and oil spills.
Make no mistake about it – an oil spill in Sabine Lake or Bessie Heights Marsh would impact wildlife, fisheries, and local communities for generations!
Construction of the Blue Marlin terminal and pipeline would also result in large-scale greenhouse gas emissions that threaten the survival of coastal communities due to impacts like land-loss and worsening storms.
ABOUT ENERGY TRANSFER
The proposed builder and operator of the Blue Marlin pipeline is Energy Transfer, which is headquartered in Dallas and led by billionaire founder and CEO Kelcy Warren. Energy Transfer has a terrible track record of oil spills and safety violations causing extreme harm to the environment and local communities.
In 2018, it was reported that Energy Transfer and its subsidiaries and joint ventures had spilled at least 3.6 million gallons of hazardous materials in a 16-year period, causing over $115 million in property damage. Reuters also reported that Energy Transfer had amassed more than 800 state and federal permit violations while building their Rover and Marin pipelines.
Most recently, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced 48 criminal charges against Energy Transfer for inappropriately discharging industrial waste in violation of the state’s Clean Streams Law. The charges included a felony count for willfully failing to report a spill to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Energy Transfer has demonstrated year after year that they value profits over people and ecosystems. They cannot be trusted to transport crude oil through our Gulf waters and communities.
RESOURCES TO SAVE SABINE LAKE
TAKE ACTION
Click here to visit the Sierra Club Blue Marlin campaign page and send a message to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
LEARN MORE
Click here find out more about the Blue Marlin project and to see an interactive map.
Click here to learn about eminent domain and how Energy Transfer can take your land against your will.
Click here to learn about the safety record of pipelines.