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June 19, 2012
Sen. David Vitter has formally thanked Gov. Bobby Jindal for signing into law a legacy lawsuit solution passed by the Louisiana Legislature.
“I want to thank the state Legislature for passing this strong solution to the legacy lawsuit issue which Governor Jindal signed into law,” Vitter (R-La.) said. “It will help clean up real contamination and shut down the trial lawyer bonanza, which has been hurting job creation in our energy sector. [The solution] happened for one reason – legislators did their job, faced a tough issue and voted the right way in the House, and in the Senate.”
Legacy lawsuits proved to be a contentious issue for legislators during their 2012 regular session. The state Senate and House of Representatives ultimately accepted a procedural compromise presented by state Sen. Bret Allain.
“Landowners wanted more oversight,” Allain (R-Jeanerette) said after presenting SB-731 an alternative to HB-618 in April. “So what I did was set up as an oversight committee comprised of the Department of Natural Resources, Commission of Conservation, Department of Environmental Quality, Wildlife and Fisheries, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Hospitals and, in coastal parishes, and the Coastal Protection and Regulation Authority. “
Allain argued that by giving each agency a say in the matter, individual cases would be fully addressed without landowners and oil companies having to come back later to address added complaints.
Throughout legislative debate, Vitter argued that a stalemate regarding legacy lawsuits favored trial attorneys who he said seek millions in damages, above actual cleanup costs.
“The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association would like to give particular praise to Sen. Vitter for his leadership as a driving force that resulted in this much-needed solution to these frivolous legacy lawsuits,” LOGA President Don Briggs said. “While this was not a Capitol Hill battle, Sen. Vitter made his voice heard in our home state of Louisiana. These two pieces of legislation successfully passing out of the state legislature would not have been possible without his willingness to speak out on behalf of the industry and keep the issue on the forefront of the public debate.”
“The Louisiana Landowners Association appreciates that the Governor’s Office has helped to achieve this compromise,” Louisiana Landowners Association Executive Director Paul Frey said. “We add a special thanks to Sen. Allain who is a key advocate for landowners.”
“To reach a compromise, it was important that we came to a balance that enables us to continue to lead the country in energy production and also be good stewards of the environment,” Natural Resource Secretary Scott Angelle said in the news release from the governor’s office. “This compromise provides for transparency in the process, accelerates clean up of the environment and protects innocent parties from punitive damages.”
Vitter highlighted key components that he fought for and that became part of the solution. The senator’s contributions to legislation allows operators to accept responsibility and be credited for cleaning up sites, calls for pretrial public hearings and makes sure the clean-up plan is publicly available and admissible in court.
The term legacy lawsuits refer to claims brought by landowners against oil and gas operations in relation to contamination of property related to drilling and extraction sites. These lawsuits are often filed against every operator who has ever worked a section of property.
Until now, lawsuits could include multiple companies, even if some lease-holding companies are not the ones responsible for contamination that occurred prior to their ownership.
Sen. David Vitter makes his opinion known during a visit to Houma regarding the Louisiana Legislature working toward compromise legislation regarding legacy lawsuits. A new package regarding the litigation has been signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal. Vitter responded with approval to the legal guidelines he says benefit both landowners and oil companies.
