2019 was a historic year for the Bonnet Carre Spillway as it remained open for a record 118 days. The extended opening proved to have adverse effects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Now, some officials on the Coast are taking action. IMMS President Dr. Moby Solangi said, “It is a catastrophic event that has happened. We never thought there would [...]
‘Colossal bait-and-switch’: Port Allen plant’s air permit modification attacked in court
Calling a Port Allen industrial recycling plant's modified air permit a "colossal bait-and-switch," a lawyer for environmentalists asked a Baton Rouge judge Wednesday to vacate the permit and send it back to a state regulatory agency for more study. Louisiana Environmental Action Network attorney Clay Garside argued to state District Judge Trudy White that Thermaldyne's modified air permit allows it [...]
Doing Something About Oil Spills
It is our sad reality that wells and pipelines seem to spill oil in Louisiana every few months. Many of you have asked what can be done, particularly in Hilcorp’s December spill in Lake Grand Ecaille. We spoke about the problem of proving where the oil went and what damage it would cause, and promised to look for ways to [...]
Hilcorp Energy settles suit with oystermen over unauthorized dredging through wetlands
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 alternative oyster fishing method, mitigation, [...]
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 in January 2016, when it [...]
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 reefs in southeast Louisiana and [...]