Yet even as Flint barely returns to normalcy,¹ Valero Energy Corp. and Plains All American Pipeline are working to build the Byhalia Connection Pipeline which would cut directly through the predominantly Black South Memphis-- and turn it into the next water crisis in Black America.

President Joe Biden signed a recent executive order promising to end systemic racism. In the order, his administration promises:²

“Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism. Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.”

Since the 1980s, race has been the strongest predictor of an American being exposed to pollution and man made toxicity.³ For Black lives to be safe in this country, that pattern is unacceptable.

We are calling upon President Joe Biden to cancel the Byhalia Connection Pipeline just as he cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline.

A pipeline through Black Memphis is an assault not just on the environment, but on Black communities everywhere.

1. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/23/flint-water-crisis-2020-post-coronavirus-america-445459

2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/

3. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1310/ML13109A339.pdf