The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against 18 oil and gas companies. The lawsuit arose from the sudden death of oysters in Plaquemines Parish, which plaintiffs, a group of about 30 oyster fishermen, alleged were the result of a release of produced water and brine—frequent byproducts of oil and gas operations. After a battle over jurisdiction, the oil and gas companies successfully obtained a dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims at the district court level for failure to identify specific negligent acts that increased the salinity in that area.
Plaintiffs made sweeping allegations against all 18 oil and gas defendants and did not include specifics as to any one defendant. This tactic is often used in “legacy” cases in Louisiana seeking damages from oil and gas companies for environmental harm. Plaintiffs argued on appeal that the only conceivable cause of death for the oysters was increased salinity levels derived from produced water from oil and gas operations in the area, but the Fifth Circuit rejected this conclusory argument. The Fifth Circuit made clear that plaintiffs’ sweeping allegations failed to identify which defendants were negligent and in what way. Noting the specificity standard required for a complaint in federal court, the Fifth Circuit concluded, “[s]imply put, plaintiffs’ complaint has not nudged their claims of negligent/tortious conduct ‘across the line from conceivable to plausible.'”
This victory for industry is hopefully the beginning of a heightened requirement to plead facts against individual defendants in environmental cases in Louisiana.
For further questions regarding this case, contact Liskow attorneys Kelly Becker, Jamie Rhymes, and Andrew Hughes and visit our Energy Litigation practice page.
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