http://rt.com/usa/164552-louisiana-blll-oil-lawsuits/
[multiple images in on-line article]
Louisiana Gov. signs bill killing lawsuits against oil and gas companies
Published time: June 08, 2014 14:01
Edited time: June 08, 2014 14:49
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has flouted the advice of his own
attorney general and scores of legal scholars by signing a bill which
blocks a levee board’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies, who are
accused of destroying the state’s coast.
"This bill will help stop frivolous lawsuits and create a more fair and
predictable legal environment, and I am proud to sign it into law,"
Jindal said in a written statement Friday.
The law, SB 469, has thwarted a levee district in New Orleans’ East Bank
– the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SLFPA-E) –
from pushing forward with a lawsuit introduced last July against 97 oil
and gas companies for damage done to the state’s wetlands. According to
the suit, the firms exposed New Orleans to catastrophic damage from
hurricanes Rita and Katrina by dredging and cutting thousands of miles
of pipes and canals through barrier islands and wetlands which, left
intact, would have protected the coastal city, The Times-Picayune
Newspaper reports.
“We are looking to the industry to fix the part of the problem that they
created,” SLFPA-E vice president John Barry told the tri-weekly last
year. “We’re not asking them to fix everything. We only want them to
address the part of the problem that they created.”
Local republicans and energy heavyweights, however, viewed the lawsuit
as frivolous and “illegal.”
"This bill keeps a rogue agency from misrepresenting this State and
trying to raise money through illegal actions," said Senators Robert
Adley and Bret Allain, who sponsored the legislation Jindal approved
this week.
Adley, who has owned Pelican Gas Management Co. since 1993, was
president of ABCO Petroleum from 1972 to 1993, is affiliated with the
Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, and has been the recipient of an
estimated $597,950 in campaign contributions from companies, political
action committees and individuals affiliated with, or controlled by, oil
and gas interests, was incredulous at claims the industry had harmed the
state.
"I think it's absurd to say that the oil and gas industry has damaged
the coast," Republican Adley said. "They did what they were told to do,
and a lot of what they have done has helped us, not hurt us."
Jindal himself is no stranger to oil and gas money, having received at
least $545,000 in industry contributions “and most probably more,”
according to the Louisiana Voice. Last year, environmental groups
claimed that figure was nearly twice as high, saying oil and gas
companies had donated $1,019,777 to his campaigns between 2003 and 2013.
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, called the
move a “huge victory for the oil and gas industry,” according to a
statement released by the governor’s office.
Louisiana in deep waters
The victory for the oil and gas industry could be much more far-reaching
in the years ahead. Critics fear the slipshod language in SB 469 will
not only kill the flood authority’s lawsuit, but potentially scuttle
other attempts to litigate against the energy industry.
Topping that list are government claims against BP, whose Deepwater
Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing 11
people and spilling 210 million gallons of oil in the worst marine oil
spill in history.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell wrote Jindal
imploring him to veto the measure, saying the “very broad and
all-encompassing language” of the bill “may have other potential serious
unintended consequences."
“No one can currently quantify or identify all of the causes of action
which will be swept away if this bill becomes law,” the letter warns.
“In the coming years perhaps the proponents of the bill can tailor
legislation more narrowly drawn which does not portend such a broad and
vague attack on the abilities of the State, and most importantly, local
governmental entities to protect their citizens.”
Seventy-nine law school professors also warned bill could interfere with
state and local government claims against BP.
A seven-page legal assessment of the legislation cautioning Jindal not
to sign SB 469 because it could have “adverse consequences” was compiled
by Loyola Law School Robert Verchick and received the endorsement of
legal scholars from California to Maryland, The Times (Shreveport) reported.
Steve Murchie, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network, said:
“This legislation is governance at its worst: poorly written, for the
worst of reasons, with no public benefit, and having potentially
staggering unintended consequences. Governor Jindal, in his zeal to
please the oil and gas industry and further his political ambitions, has
abandoned the hundreds of thousands of Louisianans facing another
hurricane season with inadequate storm protection and a disappearing coast.”
But Jindal’s executive counsel, Thomas Enright, said their arguments did
not hold water.
“We are satisfied that the concerns expressed by your office are the
same as those offered by the opponents of the bill during the session
and that those concerns were properly considered and publicly debated at
length,” he said.
--
Darryl McMahon
Project Manager,
Common Assessment and Referral for Enhanced Support Services (CARESS)
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