ST. MARTINVILLE — Several crawfish farmers and clean water activists spoke out in a unified voice Tuesday night at the St. Martin Parish Council meeting.
“I would like to have a moment of silence for the Atchafalaya Basin,” said Mike Bienvenu, a past president and current member of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West. “It’s on life support right now, and we’re thinking of calling in hospice.”Â
Noticing the crowd actually fell silent, Bienvenu said, “That’s supposed to be a joke.”
It prompted the only chuckle of the night.Â
For decades, Bienvenu said, several companies have been building pipelines underneath the Atchafalaya Basin that run east to west. These pipelines have altered the way water flows — or, now, doesn’t flow — throughout the Basin.Â
Bienvenu cited several companies and several swamps and bayous in the Basin where the pipes and their spill banks have blocked the north-south flow of water, creating “dead water,” or the low-oxygen swamp water often responsible for fish kills.
“The parish has an opportunity here, plus a responsibility,” he said. “The parish did most of the dredging work in the basin in the early days, in the late ’70s and early ’80s.”Â
Now, permits the Corps of Engineers grant to companies building the pipes require those companies to maintain water flow. The problem, he said, is there is literally no enforcement.Â
“The permits require them to maintain cuts and gaps,” he said. “It’s part of their permits — I have all of their permits. If y’all want to read them, I’ve got them.”Â
“Definitely we are interested in helping, and we want to save the Basin,” said Council Chairman Jason Willis. “But I’m asking what it is that you’re asking from us?”
“Enforce those permits,” Bienvenu said.Â
Jody Meche, the current president of the LCPA-West; Dean Wilson, of the Atchafalaya Basinkeepers; Ben Bienvenu, also of the LCPA-West and brother to Mike, and Shane Doucet of the LCPA-West also spoke with similar passion.
J. Tyrone Glover, a field representative for Congressman Clay Higgins, was in attendance. “Whatever we need to do in the office to rectify this and support and help, the office is at your disposal,” he said.
Later, outside the council room, he said, “It’s really more of a state issue.”
“It seems pretty common-sensical to see what the construction of these pipelines (has done),” Chester R. Cedars, the council’s legal counsel, said, “The issue is to bring the right players that can enforce those permits to the table, and bring the pressure to bear on those proper people.”
They agreed to begin work on drafting a resolution to bring the issue to the correct people. Â
“It’s never a victory but it’s a different approach that we’re trying,” Bienvenu said later. Asked if he thought there was progress at the meeting, he said, “I think so. But we’re going to have to stay after it.”