United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, Civil Action 2:15-cv-6300
LEAN is suing as a “private attorney general” in a citizen suit to enforce the Clean Water Act and stop water pollution coming from Mo-Dad’s sewage pits north of Lake Pontchartrain. The utilities have been under order by the Louisiana Department Of Environmental Quality to fix the pits for years, but deadlines just keep getting pushed back and the work remains undone. LEAN seeks a federal court judgment to finally uphold the law and force the sewage pits to clean up their act. Clay Garside is lead attorney on the case, which is set for trial in January of 2017.
Environmental
Subsistence Fisherman And Those Who Took Quick Payouts From BP Looking For Fair Settlement
United States Court, Louisiana.
BP’s oil spill in 2010 directly affected the lives and livelihood of fishermen and seafood restaurants up and down the coast. However, many subsistence fishermen have been completely left out of the settlement process. In addition, many fishermen took quick payouts worth $5000-$25000 dollars as they were made to believe this under compensation was the best they could get. Joel Waltzer, an attorney representing both of these belittled groups, is working to have them take part in the overarching BP settlement plan and receive the compensation they deserve.
Louisiana Oysterman Association Inc. Versus Hilcorp Energy Company
United States District Court, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2:2016-cv-10171.
In June of this year, the Louisiana Oysterman Association filed suit in June against Hilcorp Energy Co. for “prop washing” and doing so without proper permitting. This prop washing is a cheap method of accessing wells that uses tugboat propellers to churn the water bottoms and deepen existing channels. The Oysterman Association disapproves of this method as it can have serious environmental ramifications and the lack of permits puts Hilcorp in direct violation of the federal Clean Water Act’s prohibition against dredging and filling in open waters without considering alternative, less-damaging methods, or mitigating the damages. This issue comes amongst Hilcorp’s latest oil spill, which is also drawing criticism from the environmental community. The case is currently on trial.
Court blocks use of BP restoration funds for Gulf State Park conference center
United States District Court, Washington, D.C., Civil Action 1:15-cv-00191.
The $85.5 million Gulf State Park Enhancement Project was among the first restoration projects approved under Alabama’s portion of early restoration funds made available by BP as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. The project had multiple parts but $58.5 million was to go towards the rebuilding of the Gulf State Park Lodge. Gulf Restoration Network filed suit against leaders of the Department of the Interior saying that using the money for a convention center rather than ecological restoration is a misuse of the funding. With the help of Robert Wiygul, the suit was successful and in February of this year federal judge, Charles Butler, blocked the use of these funds to build the lodge.
Doretha Z. Walker et al. versus AMID/Metro Partnership, LLC et al
United States District Court, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Civil Action.
The City opened the Gentilly Landfill after Hurricane Katrina and used the area to dispose of hurricane debris in return for millions of dollars from federal agencies and others. The City claimed to own the property, but public records showed that most of the landfill was on property owned by private landowners. A group of landowners filed a class action lawsuit asking for compensation for the illegal use of their land. After years of litigation and negotiations, in January of 2015, attorneys with Waltzer Wiygul & Garside reached an $8,000,000 settlement that will pay owners of the disputed property about $1 per square foot of their property plus a flat fee. This settlement represents a premium price for land in the area.
Mississippi Power and Sierra Club Settle Coal Litigation
Mississippi Power’s Watson Plant still has two coal-fired units which aid in providing power to its 186,000 customers. With the help of Robert Wiygul, the Sierra Club filed suit in hopes of encouraging Mississippi Power to stop using coal power. As part of the settlement, Mississippi Power agreed to convert from coal to natural gas at plants in south Mississippi and Greene County, Alabama. This decision was part of an effort to end litigation concerning construction of a coal-fired plant in Kemper County. The Sierra Club agreed to dismiss and withdraw all pending legal and regulatory challenges against the Kemper project and Plant Daniel. Furthermore, they also agreed to refrain from formally intervening in all existing and anticipated regulatory proceedings for those two plants for the next three years. Ed Holland, Mississippi Power president and CEO, said the changes are needed to comply with new federal environmental standards.
