Appeals court hands oil companies victory in coastal lawsuit
Source: Associated Press
Appeals court hands oil companies victory in coastal lawsuit
By KEVIN McGILL
Mar. 3, 2017 8:13 PM EST
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday refused to revive a Louisiana levee board's lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state's fragile coast, a major victory for energy companies and their political supporters who cast the suit as an attack on a vital state industry.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld a federal judge's 2015 decision in favor of energy companies that argued the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East lacked legal standing to bring its damage claims, which could have cost the oil companies billions of dollars.
The board had argued that damage to the coast done by decades of drilling and canal dredging by energy companies contributed to the loss of coastal wetlands. The wetlands form a hurricane buffer for New Orleans and the authority argued their loss meant more work and expense in protecting and maintaining levees.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2013, environmentalists hailed it as an effort to hold the industry accountable.
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