Registered fishermen still waiting by the phone for BP
June 22, 2010
Helen LeBoeuf
June 24, 2010The District Attorney’s offices of Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes all filed individual lawsuits against BP last week, seeking damages from the conglomerate for oil-spill-related damages to the state’s wildlife.
According to Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joseph Waitz, the decision to file the suits is based on Louisiana Revised Statute 56:40.1.
That statute states, “A person who kills, catches, takes, possesses, or injures any fish, wild birds, wild quadrupeds, and other wildlife and aquatic life in violation of this Title, or a regulation adopted pursuant to this Title, or a federal statute or regulation governing fish and wildlife, or who, through the violation of any other state or federal law or regulation, kills or injures any fish, wild birds, wild quadrupeds, and other wildlife and aquatic life, is liable to the state for the value of each fish, wild bird, wild quadruped, and other wildlife and aquatic life, unlawfully killed, caught, taken, possessed, or injured.”
Also joining in the efforts are Plaquemines, St. Tammany and St. Martin parishes, who filed similar suits.
Waitz said other parishes are also expected to file.
“Our wildlife will drastically be affected by this oil spill,” Waitz said. “And when I say wildlife, I’m talking about the birds, the fish, the crabs, the oysters, the conchs, whatever was affected, all the way down from the biggest fish to the smallest sea creatures … They all have some value that was placed on them to try and restore them.”
If successful in their collective efforts, 60 percent of monies recouped would go to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to help them restore our area’s damaged species. The rest of the money would stay local and be set aside for local relief efforts.
Waitz said there are plenty of “hoops and hurdles” in the way of the case being able to reach its final resolution.
The individual parishes have all filed their suits at the state level. But BP has since attempted to move the cases to Federal Court.
Waitz said his office would counter with a motion to remand the case back into state court within the next few weeks.
If successful, Waitz said he believes these lawsuits will be some of the first decisions to be laid down against the conglomerate.
But if the cases are consolidated into one, giant federal case, it could “be years before this is all unraveled.”
The Terrebonne Parish District Attorney said he is “confident” in the local parishes’ ability to get the suits heard on the state level.
“We feel strongly that this case belongs in Terrebonne Parish in state district court, not in federal court.” he said. “If that happens, it would be a total miscarriage of justice, because this incident happened on the coast of Louisiana. This belongs in Louisiana. This should be heard by Louisiana court because the bulk of the damages are here … For it to be in any other court would be an absolute travesty.”
