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.
Small Business
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.
