(The Center Square) − John Carmouche, who represents parishes in more than 40 coastal-erosion lawsuits against major oil companies, told the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday that the litigation is aimed at companies’ permit obligations since 1980 — not at World War II–era production.
He walked through a timeline that starts with Congress’ 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act and Louisiana’s decision to build its own program, which culminated in a state permitting regime that took effect Sept. 20, 1980.
From that date forward, he said, oil and gas operators needed coastal use permits when their activities affected the coast — and they were obligated to restore sites when operations ended.
“It’s not like they didn’t make the decision to put them in the position they’re in today. It was their choice, no one else’s choice,” Carmouche said.
That framing mirrors the parishes’ position in a recent U.S. Supreme Court filing, which says the lawsuits seek relief “solely” for violations of issued permits after Sept. 20, 1980, and for failures to obtain required permits after that date. Pre-1980 conduct matters only to determine whether an activity is “grandfathered” from permitting – activities ended before Sept. 20, 1980 aren’t actionable, the brief notes.
Carmouche argued companies “had choices” once the state program began: get coastal permits and follow restoration terms – or don’t. He said most parish claims arise from permits that were never obtained for dredging and waste disposal, or from restoration duties that were ignored.
The parishes’ filing likewise emphasizes that operators who lawfully started a use before 1980 didn’t need a new permit, but those that continued non-grandfathered uses after 1980 did – and that’s what the suits target.
Explaining the technical backdrop, Carmouche said “produced water” from drilling contained salts and metals and could have been injected deep underground instead of dumped into unlined pits or marshes.
He argued that parish claims focus on specific fields where activity continued after 1980 and required permits, not on every historic well pad.
He also pushed back on national-security warnings from two former Joint Chiefs chairs about the lawsuits chilling public-private partnerships.
“We can’t ignore the law,” Carmouche said, adding he’s seen “no proof” the cases are driving companies out of Louisiana. “If the price is right, they come.”
Carmouche’s lawsuits are not without widespread criticism.
A 2019 economic impact report published by the Pelican Institute for Public Policy estimated the litigation has cost Louisiana between $44 million and $113 million annually.
Industry-aligned groups say the Plaquemines verdict exemplifies “lawsuit abuse” that threatens jobs and investment without directly restoring the coast.
They argue the parish cases misuse state law to retroactively punish decades-old, federally regulated operations, ignore that companies followed the rules in place at the time, and try to turn broad climate and coastal challenges into courtroom fights better left to legislatures and regulators.
“This misguided litigation is built on a dangerous premise – that companies can be punished today for actions that were legal, permitted, and often encouraged by the very governments now seeking massive damages,” Melissa Landry, Vice President of the Pelican Institute, said in a statememnt. “There is no doubt that the longer these cases drag on, the more jobs, investments, and opportunities Louisiana will continue to lose.”
“These cases haven’t restored a single mile of coastline, but they’ve done real damage to Louisiana’s economy. It’s time to end the courtroom chaos, welcome back investment, and let Louisiana work,” Landry continued.
Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, said the state’s energy sector is already investing heavily in coastal health and restoration and warned that parish-led lawsuits threaten jobs and new capital.
“No private entity cares more – or is doing more – about the health and restoration of our coastline than the Louisiana energy industry,” he said, arguing that “trial lawyers are coming in to line their pockets and threaten investment in our state.”
Faucheux urged policymakers to “stop incentivizing these lawsuits” and “support the over 300,000 people in Louisiana who work in and alongside the oil and natural gas industry every day.”
Carmouche also said that the end of the lawsuits would be a boon to Louisiana, to which Pelican Institute CEO Daniel Erspamer responded: “It may be one of the very few things on which the plaintiffs’ lawyers and I agree. Unfortunately, ‘end the lawsuits’ should mean withdraw them rather than continuing this aggressive lawfare.”
