A bill in the Louisiana Senate that would have given oil and gas companies a win in the effort to prevent lawsuits against them by parish governments over the loss of coastal wetlands stalled before being taken up by the full body of the Senate.
Senate Bill 359, sponsored by state Sen. Bob Hensgens (R-Gueydan), the chairman of the committee, is based on a 1978 act – the Coastal Zone Management Act – which says that parish governments do not have the right to sue the oil and gas industry because permits are issued by the state. Only the state has the right to sue, Hensgens told The Advocate. Therefore, the coastal lawsuits brought by the parishes are not valid, he maintains.
The bill advanced from the Natural Resources Committee on a 4-3 vote. It then moved to the full Senate for consideration, but no action was taken before the session ended Monday, the Daily Advertiser reported. The Legislature had been in a special session to work on the state budget.
Sen. Bob Hensgens (R-Gueydan)
| Louisiana State Senate
State Sen. Sharon Hewitt (R-Slidell), a member of the committee who voted with the majority to kill the lawsuits, said the coastal lawsuits are job killers at a time when job creation in Louisiana is more critical than ever.
“The parish lawsuits have had a chilling impact on investment in the state,” Hewitt told The Advocate.
Tyler Grey, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, appeared before the committee to bolster Hensgens' position that localities do not have the power to enforce state coastal use permits in court. Local governments can only provide input, Grey told The Advocate.
“This (bill) was introduced due to a troubling number of lawsuits by local governments,” Hensgens said, The Advocate reported.
John Carmouche, a trial lawyer, has filed 42 lawsuits on behalf of six parishes that claim damages to their coastlines by oil and gas companies: Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. John, Vermilion and Cameron.
Carmouche is a major donor to political candidates across the state who favor litigation by the municipalities against the oil and gas companies.
In an hour-long presentation at the hearing and in various courtrooms across the state, Carmouche said the argument that a decision by the legislature in 2014, and a verdict by a federal court in recent years, have upheld the right of parish governments to bring the lawsuits, The Advocate reported.
Hensgens insists that Carmouche is wrong. For the coastal lawsuits to go forward, Gov. John Bel Edwards or Attorney General Jeff Landry will have to take over the litigation if they choose to do so, Hensgens told The Advocate.
Carmouche maintains that the state cannot afford to take on the lawsuits. The state would have to shift the cost to the taxpayers, Carmouche said. He and other law firms who represent the parishes do not charge up front money, however they stand to reap huge fees upon settlement or verdict. Carmouche’s law firm – Talbot Carmouche Marcello – has spent nearly $9 million on just two of the cases, the Advocate said.