Oilfield Operations “Legacy” Contamination
Sanders v Gary, Texaco, et al, Pointe Coupee Parish (1992-1996). Lead Counsel. First groundwater “legacy” lawsuit. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Morill v Shell, St James Parish (1998-2001). Lead counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas production facilities’ contamination of soil and the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Olinde v, Franks Petroleum, Texaco et al Point Coupee Parish (1996-2002). Lead Counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas production facilities’ contamination. Confidential settlement included payment of damages.
Dupont v Metairie Energy, Chevron, Exxon et al, Iberville Parish (2005-2007). Lead Counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas production facilities’ contamination. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Vegas v Miller Exploration, Concordia Parish (2006-2007). Lead Counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas well blowout contamination including aquifer damage. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Hilcorp v Texaco, Vermillion Parish (2012-13). Co-lead trial counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas production facilities’ contamination. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Bunch v Brighton, Exxon, et al, Jefferson Davis Parish (2013-2014). Lead counsel. Property damage cleanup suit for oil and gas production facilities’ contamination. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Chemical Plants/Refineries/Commercial Disposal Facilities
In RE: PPG Industries, Inc., Calcasieu Parish (1989-1991). Lead Counsel. LDEQ regulatory compliance action for cleanup and multi-million dollar penalty for hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorobutadiene Chicot Aquifer and Calcasieu estuary contamination from PPG Lake Charles facility. Settled for cleanup and penalty.
Lorio v Western Waste et al, West Baton Rouge Parish (1996-1998). Lead Counsel. Property cleanup suit by adjacent landowner for commercial oilfield waste disposal facility groundwater contamination migrating across the property line onto landowner’s property. Settlement included payment of damages and sale of contaminated property.
Anderson v Dow Chemical Co. and Thomas v A. Wilbert & Sons, Iberville Parish (2009). Lead Counsel/Class Counsel. Personal injury and cleanup litigation related to Dow Chemical’s contamination of the Plaquemine Aquifer with vinyl chloride from its Louisiana Operations facility. Court found Dow liable, adopted a monitoring and remediation plan. Personal injury claims for drinking and other exposures to the contaminated groundwater via water well use of nearby residents dismissed.
Pipelines
Ramagos v Marathon Oil Company, St Charles Parish (1996-1999). Gasoline pipeline rupture. Confidential settlement included payment of damages.
Landry v Exxon Pipeline, Iberville Parish (1998-2002). Lead Counsel. Property cleanup suit for contamination from oil pipeline rupture. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and cleanup.
Lasserre v OXYCHEM, St. James Parish (1996-1998). Lead Counsel. Property cleanup suit for soil and surface water contamination from brine pipeline leaks in crawfish ponds. Confidential settlement included payment of damages and environmental regulatory agency approved cleanup.
Hazardous Waste
Louisiana ex rel Guste and Buddy Roemer v William K. Reilly, Administrator, U.S. EPA, East Baton Rouge Parish (1990). Co-Lead Counsel. Suit to enjoin incineration of banned pesticide Dinoseb at Rollins incinerator near Baton Rouge as violative of the National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act. Incineration in Louisiana was prohibited.
Louisiana ex rel Richard Leyoub v Reilly, Administrator of United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ouachita Parish (1992). Co-Lead Counsel. Suit to enjoin disposal of superfund site lead waste at Magnolia Landfill near Monroe, La. under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). Suit settled and waste not brought to Louisiana.
Wetlands/Natural Resources/Environmental Permits/Regulatory Violations
Louisiana ex rel Guste v GSX Land Treatment, Inc., Iberville Parish (1987). Co-Lead Counsel. Successful injunction to prohibit transportation of sewage sludge into Louisiana.
In Matter of Dravo Industries, Orleans and St. Tammany Parish (1989). Co-Lead Counsel. Successful defense of shell dredging industry Lake Pontchartrain water discharge permit denial.
Louisiana ex rel. Guste and Charles “Buddy” Roemer v Lujan, United States Dept. of Interior (1991). Co-Lead Counsel. Suit to enjoin Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease sale under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act to prevent further oil and gas related coastal wetland damage in Gulf of Mexico. Injunction denied for LDNR procedural error.
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality v Tesla Resources, Jefferson Parish (1990). Lead Counsel. Suit to enjoin discharge of produced water from oil wells into Lake Pontchartrain as violative of Clean Water Act. Injunction granted.
In The Matter of Texaco, Inc., Terrebonne Parish (1988). Lead Counsel. Successful defense of test case permit denial that prohibited the discharge of “drilling mud” into Terrebonne Bay.
In the Matter of Canlan Oil Company, St. Charles Parish (1989). Lead Counsel. Successful defense of denial of permit to discharge produced water into Lake Salvador.
Ostheimer v Venvirotek of Louisiana, Terrebonne Parish (1995-2000). Lead Counsel. Property cleanup suit by landowner for groundwater contamination from adjacent commercial oilfield waste disposal facility. Confidential settlement included payment of damages, facility shut down, and permit revocation.