(The Center Square) – Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr sent a letter to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, warning that the state might face repercussions from a recent executive order by President Donald Trump involving coastal litigation against oil and gas companies.
Murrill didn’t hold back in her response to Barr, whom she said she has “great respect.” Both she and her predecessor, Gov. Jeff Landry, have been supportive of the litigation against the oil and gas companies.
The letter sent on Wednesday was in response to a $744 million verdict on April 4 against Chevron from a Plaquemines Parish jury for its role in the degradation of the state’s vital wetlands.
“He (Barr) is unfortunately wrong about the facts and the law,” Murrill said in a statement. “Louisiana is and will continue to be a leading energy producer for the nation. I have encouraged our elected leaders to pursue energy production solutions and likewise to adopt a sensible, predictable enforcement regime. Chevron and its predecessor Texaco, like other oil and gas companies, was grandfathered into the permitting regime established in the early ’80s unless its prior actions were illegal and continued after 1980.
“The facts at trial showed Chevron’s predecessor Texaco illegally dumped 100 million gallons of contaminated water into the marsh and continued to do so after 1980, while also being paid by other companies to inject their wastewater into Chevron/Texaco’s saltwater disposal wells. So it knew the law, but chose profits over environmental compliance.”
The order was issued on Tuesday and gives U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi the ability to file lawsuits against state laws that are unconstitutional or preempted by federal law and could burden exploration, production or use of domestic energy resources. Priority would be given to laws addressing climate change, environmental justice, environmental, social, and governance, carbon or greenhouse emissions.
Barr wrote the letter representing the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, the American Energy Institute, the United Slates Energy Association and First Principles.
“We are concerned Louisiana is in the process of doing just this by its acquiescence to the wave of 43 lawsuits devised by prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers against American oil and gas companies on behalf of Louisiana’s coastal parishes,” Barr wrote in his letter. “These cases all claim that the oil and gas production activities of these companies over the past 80 years are responsible for Louisiana’s coastal land loss and erosion.”
Barr encouraged Murrill and other state officials to instead hold the federal government to blame over their policies concerning the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its levee system.
Echoing similar arguments from the oil and gas companies, Barr says while the Corps’ efforts on the river are vital for flood control and navigation, the levees prevent river sediment from being deposited into the Mississippi River Delta.
“Given this history, plaintiffs’ attempt to extract many billions more from America’s oil and gas companies on the theory that they are responsible for the coastal erosion seems flatly incompatible with the position previously taken by the state in attributing that erosion to federal action while obtaining federal funds to address coastal damage,” Barr wrote.
Murrill defended the jury and said she’ll ensure that “industry complies with our laws.”
“The jury carefully examined the evidence and only held Chevron responsible for its share of fault,” Murrill said. “I will continue to be a champion of this energy sector, which contributes greatly to American energy independence and security.”
