Apr. 5—In what is being called "a landmark verdict," a Louisiana jury on Friday decided Houston-based Chevron must pay $744.6 million in damages to restore part of the Bayou State's coastline. The verdict marks the first ruling against an oil company among 41 lawsuits over coastal damage in the Southeast Louisiana area of Plaquemines Parish, which juts into Breton Sound and is just off the Gulf of Mexico.
"I think this was a great win for our community," Phil Cossich, an attorney representing Plaquemines Parish, told NOLA.com. "It's been a long time coming. This could be a great step in saving our coast."
Plaquemines Parish filed a lawsuit against Chevron in 2013. They alleged Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001, failed to restore wetlands after dredging canals, drilling wells and dumping wastewater. Plaquemines Parish pointed to a 1978 Louisiana law ordering oil companies restore sites they used after ending their work there.
The Chevron suit was among dozens filed by the parish against oil companies. Over a more than 10 year period the lawsuits moved between federal and state court. In January 2023 the suits were brought to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined the case and directed it to trial in the parish. The Chevron trial started in March at the courthouse in Pointe à la Hache, the seat of the parish about 50 miles south of New Orleans.
The parish jury awarded $575 million for land loss, $161 million for pollution and $8.6 million for abandoned equipment. The parish asked for $2.6 billion in the suit.
In response, Chevron lead attorney Mike Phillips pointed out that the company was "not the cause of the land loss occurring" in the area. Phillips also alleged "numerous legal errors" and said Chevron plans to appeal.
The lawsuit alleged Chevron and other oil companies exacerbated the loss of land, though other causes include weather events like hurricanes, and a levee system that is designed to protect communities but, as an effect, prevents wetland growth. The Associated Press reports that Louisiana's coastal parishes have lost around 2,000 square miles of land in the last century.
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