A Louisiana jury issued a verdict Friday that left Chevron USA on the hook to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore the state’s eroding coastline.
The Plaquemines Parish jury ordered the oil major to pay $744 million in damages, potentially setting an important precedent for dozens of similar lawsuits arguing that fossil fuel development has accelerated the disappearance of Louisiana’s wetlands.
The parish claimed Chevron had violated Louisiana’s State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978, which went into effect in 1980 and requires that oil development sites be restored after operations end.
“The jury found that the law was violated that was put into place since 1980, and [Chevron needs] to come back and just be responsible for provable damages that they caused, and no more,” said John Carmouche, a partner at the firm Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello who is representing Plaquemines Parish. “The jury spoke and hopefully this will bring everyone to the table so we can move forward.”
