Marshes and bays along the Louisiana coast, as well as fragile ecosystems like the Atchafalaya Basin, have been impacted by oil and gas pipelines, conservationists say.

Many miles of pipeline come onshore in Louisiana from drilling rigs on the Outer Continental Shelf and Ed Landgraf, industry representative with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, said the pipelines are an environmental hazard. Years of hurricanes and tropical storms have affected the infrastructure of the lines and is a contributing factor in coastal erosion.

Harold Schoeffler, Sierra Club Acadian Group chairman, said there are numerous examples of the impact of these pipelines in Iberia Parish.

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“The north shore of Cote Blanche Bay has a documented retreat rate in the range of 149 feet per year, and much of that retreat is a direct result of these lines,” he said. “In addition, as the coastline retreats, pipelines that were once trenched and buried become exposed and pose a great risk to vessels traveling these waters. These exposed pipelines are not marked or mapped, and it’s difficult for anyone to really know where they are anymore.”

Also unclear, is who’s responsibility it is now to locate them.

Schoeffler said he has been involved with Coast Guard inquiries to determine the navigational marine risk in coastal Louisiana and a consensus as to who should be marking these hazards has never been reached.

On land, the state Department of Conservation and the U.S. Department of Transportation enforce federal requirements that pipeline operators mark their lines and provide accurate information annually for the National Pipeline Mapping System.

Schoeffler said no such enforcement exists once you step off the land.

The hazards of underwater pipelines were demonstrated in 2006 when a tugboat pushing two barges, driving pilings to refurbish platforms in the area, hit a natural gas pipeline in West Cote Blanche Bay, according to reports in The Daily Iberian. The vessel hit the line approximately two miles offshore causing an explosion, 100-foot flames, four deaths and life-threatening injuries to a fifth person on board.

“The marsh is covered with pipelines that have become exposed over the years. It’s all a big mess,” said Gordon Schoeffler, a lawyer in Lafayette involved with litigation against pipeline operators and son of Harold Schoeffler. “They (pipeline operators) are looking for the easiest way to get pumping product onshore and it gives me great concern that they put others at risk with all of these unmarked lines.”

The Louisiana Department of Conservation, the U.S. Department of Transporta-tion, and internal monitoring by pipeline operators are responsible for ensuring they are operated in a safe way.

Brent Campbell, with the Department of Conservation, said they have the authority to enforce federal regulations and are constantly monitoring third-party inspections of pipes and valves and company records to make sure everything is operating as it should.

Pipeline operators have also impacted the delicate balance of the Atchafalaya Basin, Gordon Schoeffler said.

The younger Schoeffler is involved with ongoing litigation representing the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association in its lawsuit filed against more than 70 oil and gas companies and their impact on the Atchafalaya Basin.

Joseph Joy III, a lawyer in Lafayette who is also representing the group, calls what has happened in the Atchafalaya Basin a “disaster.”

“They have destroyed complete fishery systems in certain areas, and if you view it from the air, it’s nothing but a honeycomb of dams,” he said. “You can’t even navigate parts of the area anymore they have built artificial dams and spoil banks that impede the current in the area.”

Mike Bienvenu, with the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association, said when companies put in these pipelines, they dug huge canals to accommodate the barges needed to carry the pipe, creating a levee from east to west, blocking everything off.

“They were supposed to return it to the way it was before they got there, but they never did,” Bienvenu said. “You need to have current to have good productive fisheries and right now, you can go out there and see these big brown spots where nothing lives or grows.”

Joy alleges these companies have done all of this damage in the Basin with no regard for the public safety, water quality or ecology of the area.

“They don’t care and we can’t get them to remediate anything and we have no help on this issue from the state or the Army Corp of Engineers,” he said.

Tentative trial dates for the litigation have been set in 2009.

Pipeline operators accused of negatively impacting the Atchafalaya Basin by the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association declined to comment on pending litigation.

“People in this country need to realize how much energy comes from the state of Louisiana,” Landgraf said. “When they say we have our problems here, well we fuel the nation and make sure everyone is happy. The rest of the country needs to step up and realize some of our problems stem from an industry they greatly benefit from. They need to support initiatives to help us, and to save South Louisiana.”