On June 29, a pipeline ruptured in West Tennessee, spilling approximately 200,000 gallons of crude oil. It was the second-largest spill in state history. But at the time, there was no public announcement of the spill, which came very close to contaminating Tennessee’s largest aquifer.
Environmental activists say this incident goes to show that the state needs to do a better job of maintaining its existing oil and gas pipelines, rather than building new ones. But a new state law just made it easier to build this kind of infrastructure. What do we know about the state of pipelines in Tennessee? And how are efforts to block new pipelines going to work in the future?
But first, we look at the race to replace controversial Rutherford County juvenile court judge Donna Scott Davenport, who was the subject of a WPLN-Pro Publica report that revealed decades of illegal jailing of children.
Guests:
- Paige Pfleger, WPLN criminal justice reporter
- Sarah Houston, Executive Director, Protect Our Aquifer
- Scott Banbury, Conservation Program Coordinator and Lobbyist, Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club
- Justin Pearson, Memphis Community Against Pollution
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM