DeepSummary
The episode takes place at Alonzo Weaver Park in the segregated area of southwest Memphis, where Justin J. Pearson grew up. Leanna Furcerai, the host, interviews Pearson about his involvement in the fight against the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline planned for the area. Pearson became involved after attending a community meeting about the pipeline, realizing it posed a threat to his family's neighborhood of Westwood.
Pearson co-founded the group Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP) with Kathy Robinson and Kizzy Jones. As they spread awareness, they learned that the pipeline could endanger the Memphis Sand Aquifer, the source of the city's drinking water. This turned the fight into a citywide concern over clean water access. Environmentalists like Ward Archer and Sarah Houston of Protect Our Aquifer joined the coalition.
The episode details how the aquifer system works, the risks posed by the pipeline, and the lack of transparency from the pipeline companies about the planned route. Attorneys from the Southern Environmental Law Center eventually joined the legal fight after being alerted to the issue by Ward Archer and seeing the community's deep connection to protecting their neighborhoods and water supply.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- An oil pipeline planned for a segregated area of Memphis sparked community opposition due to environmental justice concerns.
- The realization that the pipeline could endanger the city's drinking water aquifer turned it into a broader citywide issue.
- Residents, environmental groups, and lawyers united to fight the perceived risks and lack of transparency around the pipeline route.
- The aquifer system acts as a natural water filter but has vulnerabilities that could be exploited by pipeline leaks or spills.
- Attorneys argued the pipeline companies used corporate shielding tactics that could avoid accountability for damages.
- Pipelines have inherent risk of leaks that are not always quickly detected, making them a threat to vital water sources.
- The scale of potential contamination from even small oil leaks into the aquifer is massive and catastrophic.
- The fight succeeded in uniting disparate groups around shared interests in protecting neighborhoods and water access.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If it affects one of us, it affects all of us.“ by Kathy Robinson
- “Our aquifer actually created a universal way for us to talk about the injustice.“ by Justin J. Pearson
- “It was enough. It was enough to fight.“ by Justin J. Pearson
- “There are two types of pipelines, pipelines that leak and pipelines that are going to leak. And so putting a high pressure crude oil pipeline across the top of this critical drinking water source, bad idea.“ by George Nolan
- “One pound of crude oil can contaminate 25 million gallons of groundwater.“ by Sarah Houston
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Episode Information
Broken Ground
Southern Environmental Law Center
7/28/22
All of Memphis drinks from a world-class underground source, known as the Memphis Sand Aquifer. The realization that the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline, planned for southwest Memphis, could endanger they city's water draws new allies into the pipeline fight. Soon, environmentalists like Ward Archer and Sarah Houston of Protect Our Aquifer are organizing alongside MCAP co-founders Kathy Robinson, Kizzy Jones, and Justin J. Pearson. The fight, which started as a neighborhood struggle against environmental racism, becomes a city-wide crusade for clean water. As Kathy Robinson says, "If it affects one of us, it affects all of us."