Energy companies welcome latest ruling in erosion lawsuits
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/08/2021 (1904 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil companies fighting dozens of lawsuits that blame drilling for decades of coastal erosion and wetland loss in Louisiana are pleased with a new appeals court ruling that could lead to some of the cases being heard in federal court.
The oil companies want all 42 lawsuits brought by six coastal parishes to be tried in federal court, a request that federal district judges had rejected. On Thursday, however, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the judges should reexamine whether cases from two parishes that involved federally overseen oil and gas operations during World War II should be heard in federal court.
Melissa Landry, spokesperson for legal teams representing BP America Production Company, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Shell, said in an email late Thursday that the teams welcome the new ruling.
While the parishes say the oil companies should be held responsible for wetlands loss, the companies say the suits are meritless. “The activities at issue were legally conducted and actively encouraged at every level of government, and they delivered tremendous economic benefits to federal, state and local governments and communities,” Landry said.
A lead lawyer handling the lawsuits said Thursday that the ruling was, in his view, a victory for the parishes. John Carmouche said the decision effectively means that at least 15 of the 42 lawsuits — those that don’t deal with World War II-era operations — will still be heard in state court. And, he said, the remainder could also be tried in state court, depending on the results of the newly ordered review.
