[StBernard] St. Bernard considers oil and gas suit similar to Plaquemines and Jefferson

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard considers oil and gas suit similar to Plaquemines and Jefferson
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on December 04, 2013 at 12:45 PM, updated December 04, 2013 at 1:03 PM

The St. Bernard Parish Council has passed an ordinance allowing parish
government to enter into "a reasonable attorneys fee contract" to sue oil
and gas companies for damage caused to local wetlands.

Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes filed lawsuits last month demanding that
dozens of oil, gas and pipeline companies repair damage caused by dredging
and other operations, and remove waste materials that were improperly
disposed in wetlands, all in violation of the terms of permits allowing them
to operate in each parish's "coastal zone."

The suits, including a possible St. Bernard suit, take the form of what the
oil industry calls "legacy lawsuits," seeking to force the companies to
repair damage that was caused when canals were built through fragile
wetlands, and to remove toxic wastes that were placed in unlined pits near
drilling operations -- or to compensate the parishes for the damages. The
lawsuits are narrowly tailored to take advantage of the parishes' special
authority under state law to regulate the "coastal zones" that includes
wetlands within their borders.

But in terms of the St. Bernard suit, Councilman Ray Lauga and other council
members Tuesday evening questioned whether the parish would be on the hook
for costs if it ended up losing any such suit and asked that Parish
President Dave Peralta look into that before agreeing to move forward.
Peralta likely will not meet with potential attorneys until next week.

The proposed contract, however, states that "attorneys assume full
responsibility for advancing any costs or expenses necessary to prosecute
the claims covered by this contract." But, it later states that the contract
is not "a contingency fee contract," and so council members were looking to
get further clarification.

The contract also states that if the parish decides to end the suit "prior
to the full conclusion of attorneys' services under this contract," that the
parish might have to pay attorney fees.

The council ordinance gives parish government the authority to hire
attorneys with the law firms of Carmouche and Associates, LLC., Cossich,
Sumich, Parisola, & Taylor, LLC., and Connick and Connick, LLC.

Jefferson and Plaquemines signed a contract with the Talbot, Carmouche &
Marcello law firm of Baton Rouge to represent them in their suits.

While no specific oil and gas companies were named in St. Bernard, the firms
named in the previous Jefferson and Plaquemines suits include a number of
the 97 companies that were sued earlier this year by the Southeast Louisiana
Flood Protection Authority-East. That suit was filed under separate
provisions of state law that prohibit operations along the coast from
impeding the abilities of levees to protect areas from storm surges.

Gov. Bobby Jindal vehemently opposed that flood authority suit, in part
saying the suit disrupts the state's implementation of its coastal
restoration and protection Master Plan. And since the filing of that suit,
Jindal has appointed replacements for three levee authority members whose
terms had expired, including former Vice President John Barry, who proposed
the lawsuit.

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East's President Tim
Doody's term also has expired but Jindal had not yet moved on either
reappointing Doody or appointing the other potential nominee, David Gorbaty,
who was selected by an independent committee in September as the option to
Doody.

But, in an interesting turn Tuesday, Peralta announced that Gorbaty has been
selected as St. Bernard's new chief administrative officer, thus making
Gorbaty ineligible to serve on the flood authority. "No public employee or
former public employee shall serve as a member of the board within twelve
months of the termination of his employment other than as a member of the
board," according to state law.

The authority is scheduled to hold a special meeting Thursday to consider a
motion on whether to reaffirm approval of a controversial lawsuit it filed
in July, seeking damages from 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies for
wetlands loss adjacent to the east bank levee system. It remains unclear
whether the governor has the votes on the authority to overturn approval of
the lawsuit.

If Jindal decides he wants to replace Doody, the independent nominating
committee likely would have to meet again to select another candidate. But,
it is unclear whether the nominating committee would have to meet since it
already had provided Jindal with the required two candidates and one of
them, Gorbaty, then later fell through.