(The Center Square) — Healthy Gulf, a New Orleans-based environmental nonprofit represented by Earthjustice, has launched a legal battle against the State of Louisiana, accusing state agencies of violating conservation agreements by greenlighting a carbon dioxide pipeline through the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area .
The lawsuit, filed in state district court in East Baton Rouge Parish, seeks a permanent injunction and declaratory relief to halt the project, claiming it undermines the swamp’s protected status as a natural resource dedicated to wildlife preservation and public recreation.
The Maurepas Swamp comprises six tracts of land, four of which — donated or purchased with strict conservation stipulations — are at the heart of the dispute.
These tracts, including the Boyce, East and West Lutcher Moore and M.C. Davis parcels were set aside in perpetuity for wildlife management and ecological preservation, barring industrial development or activities that disrupt their natural state.
The lawsuit targets multiple state entities, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, its Secretary Madison Sheahan, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, its Chair Kevin Sagrera, the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board, and its Chair Sidney W. Degan, III.
Healthy Gulf alleges these defendants overstepped their authority by issuing a Letter of Clearance and entering agreements with Air Products Blue Energy, LLC, to construct a 39.8-mile carbon dioxide pipeline through the swamp.
The pipeline, part of a blue hydrogen and ammonia facility in Ascension Parish, aims to transport captured emissions for storage beneath Lake Maurepas.
Healthy Gulf argues that Louisiana law explicitly prohibits state agencies from breaching terms of land donations accepted for wildlife management areas.
The donation agreements for the Boyce and Lutcher Moore tracts, as well as the purchase terms for the M.C. Davis tract (funded partly by federal conservation grants) forbids commercial or industrial uses, including pipeline construction, that would alter the swamp’s natural character.
The group contends that the state’s actions, including a 2021 Carbon Storage Agreement with Air Products, ignore these binding restrictions and exceed legal authority, as the state does not own the mineral or subsurface rights to grant such permissions.
“Lake Maurepas is a valuable natural resource and the State recognized that when it promised the donors of the land it would preserve and protect it,” said Lauren Godshall, senior attorney at Earthjustice, in a news release. “The State’s approval of this pipeline flies in the face of why this land was set aside for wildlife management, conservation, and preservation and undermines the State’s credibility.”
The proposed pipeline route crosses the Boyce, Lutcher Moore, and M.C. Davis tracts, with the LDWF acknowledging potential wetland damage in its Letter of Clearance. Healthy Gulf is arguing that construction will disrupt habitats critical to species like white-tailed deer, waterfowl, and largemouth bass, while undermining the swamp’s role as a recreational and ecological treasure.
The state’s defense hinges on an interagency agreement and statutes authorizing the Mineral and Energy Board to manage carbon storage projects on state lands. However, Healthy Gulf asserts that these provisions do not override the specific protections which safeguard wildlife management areas from such developments.
