Plaquemines Council backs out of suing Big Oil

The Plaquemines Parish Council last week voted to drop lawsuits against oil, natural gas and pipeline companies for environmental damage caused by exploration and production.
The vote “sent a strong signal saying Plaquemines Parish is open for business,” said Chris John, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.
“I am proud the members displayed their independence in deciding to overturn the actions of the previous council,” John said. “Their courage is to be commended.”
“Opportunistic lawsuits filed against the industry only bring harm to those involved, jeopardizing jobs and economic development, while benefiting Baton Rouge lawyers seeking to make millions in fees,” said Mark Ehrhardt, executive director of the business-based GROW Louisiana Coalition.
“These lawsuits would have created economic waste and burdened Plaquemines Parish with nothing but division, distraction and a drain on parish resources,” Ehrhardt said.
Espousing the other view was Lt. Gen. Russel Honore (USA-ret.), head of the Green Army, an environmental organization.
“It broke my heart to see our own citizens, hardworking people out of Plaquemines Parish, small business people come up with tears in their eyes asking to kill the lawsuit because the very oil companies that they work for have denied them work because the parish is suing Big Oil,” Honore said.
“Once again it shows the power of the oil and gas industry over the interest of our coastal wetlands,” said Darryl Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club in New Orleans.
Malek-Wiley alleged that new council members in Plaquemines Parish were wooed by oil and gas companies into voting against the suits, noting that recent elections in the parish saw a flood of campaign donations from the companies.
The legal team hired to represent the parish in the lawsuits gave a total of $26,000 to Plaquemines candidates in the previous election cycle, while business interests tied to oil and gas donated even more to parish candidates, “making for an avalanche of cash in elections that normally draw a couple thousand dollars in contributions at the most,” reported David Hammer of WWL-TV in New Orleans, who done extensive reporting on the Plaquemines lawsuits.
The lawsuits, filed in 2012, demanded that dozens of oil, gas and pipeline companies repair damage caused by dredging and other operations and remove waste materials that were improperly disposed in violation of permits allowing them to operate in a coastal zone.
“To dismiss a lawsuit that would restore your parish to the original condition before it was destroyed by these oil companies is not right,” said John Carmouche, one of the plaintiff attorneys.
“This group of leaders understands that 200,000 citizens work in the oil and gas industry and that the parish collects more than $23 million a year on behalf of oil and gas activities,” said John, the industry spokesman. “The citizens pointed to the detrimental impact these lawsuits had on their business ... and the council listened.”
Louisiana has lost an estimated 1,900 square miles of coast since drilling and exploration activities began in the 1930s.