The Louisiana Oystermen Association and Hilcorp Energy Company filed a consent judgment that, if approved by the court, will settle the association’s lawsuit against Hicorp for dredging in the coastal zone without a permit, according to a news release. The Texas-based oil and gas exploration company has agreed to pay $920,000 toward development of an […]
WWG in the News
Hilcorp seeks dredging permit a year after dragging drilling barge through shallow water
Dozens of oystermen and coastal residents spoke out at a public hearing Thursday night, arguing that the state shouldn’t grant an oil and gas company a permit to dredge wetlands around a drilling site near Port Sulfur. But they can’t stop Hilcorp Energy Co. of Houston from dredging. The company already cut the channel back […]
Hilcorp Can’t Beat La. Fishermen’s Clean Water Act Claims
A Louisiana federal judge on Monday rejected Hilcorp Energy Co.’s bid to completely escape a lawsuit in which an association of oyster fishermen accuses the oil and gas producer of dredging without a permit in violation of the Clean Water Act. The Louisiana Oysterman Association Inc., a nonprofit whose members lease or fish on oyster […]
Final BP seafood payments a milestone for settlement
http://www.wwltv.com/news/final-bp-seafood-payments-milestone-for-settlement/327729359 NEW ORLEANS — BP’s oil spill settlement with private individuals and businesses hit a major milestone this week as the court-appointed claims administrator announced the final round of payments to those most directly affected by the 2010 disaster, fishermen and seafood businesses. The third and last round of payments in the settlement’s $2.3 billion […]
Amid latest oil spill, Hilcorp Energy targeted by oyster growers
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 29, 2016 at 10:51 AM, updated July 29, 2016 at 11:29 AM Even as Hilcorp Energy Co. works to clean up a spill of as much as 4,200 gallons of oil in the Plaquemines Parish marsh, the company is […]
Court blocks use of BP restoration funds for Gulf State Park conference center
By Dennis Pillion | dpillion@al.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on February 16, 2016 at 4:03 PM, updated February 16, 2016 at 5:19 PM A federal judge has blocked the use of certain BP restoration funds stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from being used to rebuild a beachfront lodge and conference center on the Alabama coast. […]
Dispute over use of oil spill funds gets hearing in federal court
Posted: Jan 26, 2016 3:52 PM CST Updated: Jan 26, 2016 5:59 PM CST By Renee Dials, FOX10 News Anchor MOBILE, AL (WALA) – The state of Alabama wants to build a new hotel and conference center at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, and officials want to use BP restoration money to do it. An environmental group […]
Environmentalists, state spar over beachfront hotel and conference center
By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 26, 2016 at 4:04 PM, updated January 26, 2016 at 9:25 PM The process for awarding $58 million of BP oil spill fines for a beachfront hotel and conference center at Gulf State Park was flawed and failed to consider alternative projects, an attorney with […]
ROBERT WIYGUL: Initiative 42 would provide accountability
Initiative 42 is a constitutional amendment to ensure adequate funding for public schools in Mississippi. The opponents claim that it is a “radical ploy to shift power from voters to judges.” The opponents make this claim because the amendment makes it clear that the adequate funding requirement would be enforceable by the state courts. This […]
FIVE YEARS LATER: CLAIMS PROCESS LEAVES SOME BUSINESSES DISSATISFIED
Posted by Evelina Burnett More than 36,000 claims have been submitted by Mississippi businesses and individuals for economic losses from the BP oil spill. That’s about 12 percent of the total, and far lower than in Louisiana, Florida or Alabama. As MPB’s Evelina Burnett reports, many people who have filed claims say they weren’t fully […]