Environmental

We represent private landowners and governmental entities in cases involving environmental damage to Louisiana’s fresh water sources, land, and soil.

According to Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, there are more than 125,000 miles of pipelines running across the state.  These pipelines play a significant role in Louisiana’s coastal land loss crisis. Our seminal coastal land loss case, Vintage Assets Inc. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., et al., set a course for the restoration of coastal wetlands that surround pipelines.

The landowner in the Vintage Assets case granted companies permission to dredge canals for their pipelines decades ago, but those agreements obligate the companies to maintain the canals at a certain width from the pipelines. Over time, however, the companies allowed the pipeline canals to widen and erode the surrounding land in violation of the agreements.  As a result, the canals widened significantly and the landowner’s property was lost.

After a 5-day trial against the companies for causing wide-spread erosion of the plaintiff’s property, the district court ordered the defendants to stand by their written agreements and to restore the wetlands.  Vintage Assets Inc. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., et al., No. 16-00713 (E.D. La.). This was the first ruling on this issue in Louisiana.  Following this success, the firm represents  several private landowners and governmental entities seeking to restore land loss caused by pipeline canals across Louisiana.

The firm also represents and has obtained favorable outcomes for clients in cases where private property has been contaminated by oil and gas exploration and production activities.  Contamination is often caused by the drilling fluids and brine (a salt water solution) that is produced as a result of oil and gas exploration and production activities. Brine and drilling fluids are contaminated with toxic constituents that can easily poison thousands of gallons of fresh water or seep into the soil and devastate the land.  Evidence of damage to land and fresh water caused by oil and gas contamination may not be visible to the untrained eye. In fact, the damage may have occurred decades before it is discovered. With assistance from world-renowned experts, we can determine the extent, location, and type of contamination impacting properties across Louisiana and seek remediation and damages from the responsible companies.