On October 5, court documents were filed formalizing Louisiana’s landmark agreement with BP, initiating the process by which the state will finally receive funding for economic recovery and coastal restoration. Specifically, the Consent Decree was filed in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans, solidifying BP’s obligation to pay close to $7 billion to the state (in addition to the $2 billion already received after the Deepwater Horizon disaster). The settlement marks the largest environmental settlement in history.
Louisiana will specifically receive $5 billion restricted to addressing natural resources damages; $1 billion for economic damages; and close to $800 million for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act. This, combined with the previous $2 billion received, brings the state’s recovery to close to $9 billion total to try and address the myriad of negative consequences that came out of this environmental disaster.
Also filed were the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, an Economic Damage Settlement Agreement, and a court order regarding attorneys’ fees. These documents describe the specific impacts of the spill on wildlife, habitat, and the restoration projects designed to address these issues.
Louisiana’s History on the Issue
The State of Louisiana first filed a complaint in April of 2011 alleging that BP and some of their entities violated the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act and Water Control Law and seeking civil penalties under the state statute, as well as costs associated with the oil spill response and damages, including damages to natural resources, state properly, and other costs. In November, the court found that federal law, leading the affected states to put together a framework for restoration to address the injuries resulting from the spill, preempted Louisiana’s claims.
In January of 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana approved BP’s Plea Agreement which included injunctive relief requiring BP to implement specific improvements related to deep water drilling safety, including:
- Third party verification of blowout preventers;
- Improvements in cement design and competency;
- The completion of a drilling operations monitoring center;
- The completion of additional oil spill response training and drills;
- Audits of the Safety and Environmental Management Systems of contracted drilling rigs and BP-owned and operated platform rigs;
- Development of a well control competency assessment plan; and
- Initiation of at least four pilot projects to evaluate technology enhancements to improve operational safety and make any data available on commercially reasonable terms.
Environmental Hazard Attorneys in Louisiana
Having spent years litigating against bad actors in negligence claims, the attorneys of Harrell & Nowak are seasoned environmental hazard attorneys located in Louisiana. Specifically, Eric Nowak and Shirin Harrell were appointed as class counsel in Marshall vs. Air Liquide, an environmental hazards lawsuit in Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. If you have a legal issue related to an environmental hazard, contact the lawyers at our New Orleans firm, also serving Metairie, Kenner, and nearby communities.
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