[StBernard] Jindal levee authority appointee wants lawsuit against oil, pipeline companies suspended

[Westley Annis]

This lawsuit is a sham.  It's nothing more than an opportunity for lawyers to make a buck off the taxpayers.  The levee board clearly overstepped its authority since there is nothing stated in the legislation creating it that it has any kind of jurisdiction over any impact to marshlands.  Even though marsh does impact the ability of levee systems to sustain hurricane forces, unfortunately for the levee board such language giving it authority or jurisdiction on such matters was not clearly included.  The suit will get dismissed on ground that the levee board has no legal standing on the issue, especially when the State of Louisiana will attest to the court that it is the only party who could possibly have standing and it disagrees with the suit.  Case over.

Also, oil and gas exploration companies have already paid for permits and paid mitigation for any anticipated damages they might have done to the marsh.  So they will have both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers testifying on their behalf that they did everything right, as well as the Coastal Management Division of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources who also issued permits.  Again, case over.