Louisiana’s Republican attorney general is urging the Justice Department to dismiss all litigation it has filed against insurers for oil spill cleanup costs.
Elizabeth Murrill wrote in a recent letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that the lawsuits pose a threat to the “epicenter” of the oil and gas industry. The lawsuits were filed under the Oil Pollution Act, which assigns liability for oil spills and establishes a cleanup fund known as the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
“The actions of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in filing lawsuits during the waning days of the Biden Administration against insurance underwriters is precisely the type of action DOJ should immediately dismiss,” Murrill wrote.
Murrill pointed specifically to a 2024 case, where the U.S. Coast Guard, the Interior Department and NOAA sued to recover more than $128 million in removal costs and interest for the continued cleanup of a collapsed offshore oil platform owned by Taylor Energy.
