The community of Ironton, Louisiana, scored a key victory in the fight against oil and gas companies last week. Tallgrass Energy Partners canceled its planned $2.5 billion oil export terminal and pipeline project on Friday and will instead focus on preserving historic sites and developing what CEO William Moler claims will be a “very environmentally clean, friendly and respectful” project. ”Our cultural survey work identified a cemetery and potential artifacts consistent with what community members shared about the history of the site,” Moler told the Times-Picayune. “Since then, we reduced our development footprint to protect those areas and engaged with the Ironton community and other local stakeholders on an appropriate path toward memorializing them.” The 200-acre stretch of land along the river owned by the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Transit District and leased to Tallgrass includes land from the former St. Rosalie Plantation. The community of Ironton was established by former Black slaves emancipated from the plantation, which was operated by a free Black man who is buried with his family on the property. Residents had major concerns over the Tallgrass project impacting that place of rest as well as a nearby cemetery for enslaved people. Read more