Barbier
The Plaquemines Parish government filed a motion Feb. 18 seeking to "emphatically state and fully preserve its absolute and unilateral right to control all of its claims" related to the BP oil spill.
The statement comes as a response to a plaintiff motion for leave to file a master complaint and short-form joinder on behalf of government entities that are claiming losses as a result of the oil spill.
Despite allegedly suffering "the severest impact of any parish or county as a result of the Spill," Plaquemines Parish has not formally submitted any claims as a government entity in the BP MDL.
The Plaquemines government takes issue with attorneys on the Plaintiff Steering Committee (PSC) filing claims on their behalf.
"Plaquemines Parish wishes to make it crystal clear that it does not choose to participate in any mass joinder action or potential class action that is sought to be created by the PSC's Master Complaint."
The document was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the site of the multi-district litigation surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Parish Attorney Stephen Braud, Assistant Parish Attorney Michael Mullin and New Orleans attorneys Henry King, Michael Vincenzo and Eric Jarrell filed the objection.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is overseeing this case.
Federal MDL 2:10-md-2179