MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore joined hundreds protesting the Byhalia Pipeline in South Memphis Sunday afternoon. He called the project a "reckless, racist rip-off."
"If they put it through a low-income, Black community they think well a lot of other people in the city won't pay attention," Gore said. "Well, they drink the same water!"
A lot of Memphians, like Kizzy Jones of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, are not backing down to the oil companies leading the project.
"Don’t slaughter our water!" Jones said.
The 49-mile-long pipeline would be primarily built under low-income, predominantly Black communities in South and Southwest Memphis. The companies in charge of the project, Valero and Plains, have said it will help the local economy, but neighbors are worried their drinking water will be contaminated.
"Do not come bamboozle our people!" a protester shouted during the rally.
Gore also highlighted the issues Memphis infrastructure had during the unprecedented winter storm in February. For the first time in MLGW history, a boil water advisory was issued because of what the sub-freezing temperatures did to the city's pipes and water mains.
"We saw just two weeks ago what can happen when the water supply and the infrastructure and water in Memphis are put at risk," Gore said. "The leading experts say this pipeline would add a great deal to the risk and would create an unacceptable danger for the people of Memphis."
Memphians speaking up about this issue say they won't be silenced until their concerns are heard.
"The representative from this oil company stated that this pipeline is being built in the path of the 'least resistance,'" Jones said. "Wrong!"
This issue will be brought before the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission this week. Both will have a major say in the future of this project.