PARISH OF PLAQUEMINES v. CHEVRON USA, INC.

No. 19-30492 Consolidated With 19-30829.

969 F.3d 502 (2020)

The PARISH OF PLAQUEMINES, Plaintiff-Appellee, The State of Louisiana, ex rel., Jeffrey Martin Landry, Attorney General; The State of Louisiana, through the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management and its Secretary, Thomas F. Harris, Intervenors-Appellees, v. CHEVRON USA, INCORPORATED, As Successor in Interest to Chevron Oil Company and The California Company; Exxon Mobil Corporation, As Successor in Interest to Exxon Corporation and Humble Oil and Refining Company; ConocoPhillips Company, As Successor in Interest to General American Oil Company of Texas, Defendants-Appellants, Parish of Cameron, Plaintiff-Appellee, State of Louisiana, ex rel., Jeff Landry; State of Louisiana, on behalf of Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, on behalf of Office of Coastal Management, on behalf of Thomas F. Harris, Intervenors-Appellees, v. BP America Production Company; Chevron Pipe Line Company; Chevron USA Holdings, Incorporated; Chevron USA, Incorporated; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore, L.P.; Shell Offshore, Incorporated; Shell Oil Company; Swepi, L.P.; Texas Company, Defendants-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Filed August 10, 2020.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Victor L. Marcello, Esq. , Donald T. Carmouche , Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello, Baton Rouge, LA, William Peter Connick, Sr. , Connick & Connick, L.L.C., Metairie, LA, Andre' Collins Gaudin, Esq. , Burglass & Tankersley, L.L.C., Metairie, LA, Brandon J. Taylor, Esq. , Cossich, Sumich, Parsiola & Taylor, L.L.C., Belle Chasse, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee (Case no. 19-30492).

Ryan Michael Seidemann, Esq. , Louisiana Department of Justice, Baton Rouge, LA, for Intervenor-Appellee Jeffrey Martin Landry, Esq.

Donald Wayne Price , Special Counsel, Department of Natural Resources for the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, Megan Kathleen Terrell, Esq. , Assistant Attorney General, Plauche & Carr, L.L.P., Baton Rouge, LA, for Intervenor-Appellee State of Louisiana, through the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management and its Secretary, Thomas F. Harris

Peter D. Keisler, Esq. , Jennifer Jo Clark , Ryan C. Morris , Sidley Austin, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Eric Julian Mayer , Alexandra Giselle White , Susman Godfrey, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellant Chevron USA, Incorporated.

Martin A. Stern , Jeffrey Edward Richardson , New Orleans, LA, New Orleans, LA, Robert Beattie McNeal, Esq. , Liskow & Lewis, P.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant-Appellant Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Deborah DeRoche Kuchler , Michele Hale DeShazo , Kuchler Polk Weiner, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant-Appellant ConocoPhillips Company.

Thomas Allen Lorenzen , Crowell & Moving, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America.

Chad Ellis Mudd , Mudd & Bruchhaus, L.L.C., Lake Charles, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee (Case no. 19-30829).

Steven Beauregard Jones , Assistant Attorney General, Louisiana Deptartment of Justice, Civil Division-Environmental Section, Baton Rouge, LA, for Intervenor-Appellee State of Louisiana, ex rel, Jeff Landry.

James B. Canfield , Executive Counsel, Department of Revenue & Taxation for the State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, LA, for Intervenor-Appellee State of Louisiana.

George Arceneaux, III, Esq. , Liskow & Lewis, Lafayette, LA, Matthew T. Heartney , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, Nancy Gordon Milburn , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, L.L.P., New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellant BP America Production Company.

Rocco F. Magni , Susman Godfrey, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Michael Raudon Phillips, Esq. , Kean Miller, L.L.P., New Orleans, LA, for Defendants-Appellants Chevron Pipe Line Company, Chevron USA Holdings, Incorporated, Chevron USA, Incorporated.

David Charles Frederick , Brendan Jeremiah Crimmins , Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, Kelly Brechtel Becker, Esq. , Russell Keith Jarrett, Esq. , Attorney, Liskow & Lewis, P.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendants-Appellants Shell Offshore, Incorporated, Shell Oil Company, Swepi, L.P.

Peter D. Keisler, Esq. , Jennifer Jo Clark , Ryan C. Morris , Sidley Austin, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Rocco F. Magni , Eric Julian Mayer , Alexandra Giselle White , Susman Godfrey, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Michael Raudon Phillips, Esq. , Kean Miller, L.L.P., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant-Appellant Texas Company.

Deborah DeRoche Kuchler , Kuchler Polk Weiner, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant-Appellant Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore, L.P.

Thomas Allen Lorenzen , Crowell & Moring, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America.

Before Ho, Engelhardt, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.


Beginning in 2013, a group of Louisiana Parishes, supported by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the Louisiana Attorney General as intervenors, filed suit in state court seeking relief from various oil companies under the Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978 (SLCRMA). The...

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