Insight and Analysis of Legal Issues Impacting the Energy Industry
In March 2008, several oil and gas companies announced the finding of what could potentially be the fourth largest deposit of natural gas in the world underneath northwestern Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, and eastern Texas: the Haynesville Shale.
The Louisiana Natural Resources Department has now created a website to provide information to the public related to…
In 1997, DuPont and ConocoPhillips sued the United States pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), alleging entitlement to reimbursement of costs expended cleaning up hazardous waste from fifteen sites previously owned by the government during World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. E.I. DuPont, et …
Effective August 15, 2008, employers will no longer be able to prevent employees from carrying firearms onto employer property if those firearms are in locked, privately-owned vehicles. The change is the result of Senate Bill 51, which was sponsored by Sen. Joe McPherson and signed into law as Act No. 684 by Governor …
By Clare Bienvenu
Pursuant to Act 547, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in the 2008 Regular Session and recently signed into law by the Governor, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) may now require Louisiana facilities exempt from air permitting requirements to maintain records showing that the actual or potential emissions of the facility…
By: April Rolen-Ogden
Exxon Shipping Co., et al. v. Baker, et al. involved a class action that was filed by commercial fisherman and native Alaskans against Exxon and its tanker captain for economic losses suffered as a result of the now infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in 1989.
On the night of …
On July 1, 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that Act 312 of 2006 (“Act 312”) is constitutional and reversed the district court’s judgment declaring Act 312 unconstitutional and unenforceable under La. Const. art. V, § 16, La. Const. art. I, § 4 and the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. M.J. Farms…
by Kelly Becker
In Barasich, et al. v. Shell Pipeline Co. LP, et al., 2008 U.S. Dist. Lexis 47474 (E.D. La. 6/19/08), at issue was, inter alia, whether a group of commercial oyster fishermen could bring a class action against a group of defendants that owned land-based storage tanks or pipelines that burst…
By Tiffany Delery Davis
In Noble Energy, Inc. v. Bituminous Cas. Co., No. 07-20354, 2008 WL 2232085 (5th Cir. 2008), the Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Bituminous Casualty Company, in an insurance coverage dispute concerning whether Bituminous had a duty to defend and indemnify plaintiff, Noble Energy, Inc., in…
By Claire Bienvenu
On May 23, 2008, the Ninth Circuit vacated EPA’s rule exempting discharges of sediment resulting from oil and gas construction activities from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. NRDC v. EPA, No. 06-73217 (9th Cir. 5/23/08). The Ninth Circuit found EPA’s rule, which was a codification of a recent exemption…
In Victor Stanley, Inc. v. CreativePipe, Inc., __ F.Supp.2d __, 2008 WL 2221841 (D.Md. 2008), the court held that defendants waived any privilege that may have attached to 165 electronically stored documents, including communications between the defendants and their attorneys, which were mistakenly turned over to the plaintiff.
. Acknowledging the risk…
