
Chevron ordered to pay more than $740 million to restore Louisiana coast in landmark trial
POINTE À LA HACHE, La. (AP) — Oil company Chevron must pay at least $740 million to restore damage it caused to southeast Louisiana's coastal wetlands, a jury ruled on Friday following a landmark trial more than a decade in the making.
The case was the first of dozens of pending lawsuits to reach trial in Louisiana against the world's leading oil companies for their role in accelerating land loss along the state's rapidly disappearing coast. The verdict – likely to be appealed – could set a precedent leaving other oil and gas firms on the hook for billions of dollars in damages tied to land loss and environmental degradation.
What did Chevron do wrong?
Jurors found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.
The jury awarded $575 million to compensate for land loss, $161 million to compensate for contamination and $8 million for abandoned equipment.
'No company is big enough to ignore the law, no company is big enough to walk away scot-free,' the plaintiff's lead attorney John Carmouche told jurors during closing arguments.
A 1978 Louisiana coastal management law mandated that sites used by oil companies 'be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition' after operations ended. Older operations sites that continued to be used were not exempt and companies were expected to apply for proper permits.
But the oil company did not obtain proper permits and failed to clean up its mess, leading to contamination from wastewater stored unsafely or dumped directly into the marsh, the lawsuit said.
The company also failed to follow known best practices for decades since it began operating in the area in the 1940s, expert witnesses for the plaintiff's testified. The company 'chose profits over the marsh' and allowed the environmental degradation caused by its operations to fester and spread, Carmouche said.
How are oil companies contributing to Louisiana's land loss?
The lawsuit against Chevron was filed in 2013 by Plaquemines Parish, a rural district in Louisiana straddling the final leg of the Mississippi River heading into the Gulf of Mexico, also referred to as the Gulf of America as declared by President Donald Trump.
Louisiana's coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of land over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose another 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.
Thousands of miles of canals cut through the wetlands by oil companies weakens them and exacerbates the impacts of sea level rise. Industrial wastewater from oil production degrades the surrounding soil and vegetation. The torn up wetlands leave South Louisiana – home to some of the nation's biggest ports and key energy sector infrastructure — more vulnerable to flooding and destruction from extreme weather events like hurricanes.
Chevron's lead attorney, Mike Phillips, said the company had operated lawfully and blamed land loss in Louisiana on other factors, namely the extensive levee system that blocks the Mississippi River from depositing land regenerating sediment — a widely acknowledged cause of coastal erosion.
The way to solve the land loss problem is 'not suing oil companies, it's reconnecting the Mississippi River with the delta,' Phillips said during closing arguments.
Yet the lawsuit held the company responsible for exacerbating and accelerating land loss in Louisiana, rather than being its sole cause.
Chevron also challenged the costly wetlands restoration project proposed by the parish, which involved removing large amounts of contaminated soil and filling in the swaths fragmented wetlands eroded over the past century. The company said the plan was impractical and designed to inflate the damages rather than lead to real world implementation.
Attorney Jimmy Faircloth, Jr., who represented the state of Louisiana, which has backed Plaquemines and other local governments in their lawsuits against oil companies, told jurors from the parish that Chevron was telling them their community was not worth preserving.
'Our communities are built on coast, our families raised on coast, our children go to school on coast,' Faircloth said. 'The state of Louisiana will not surrender the coast, it's for the good of the state that the coast be maintained.'
What does this mean for future litigation against oil companies?
Carmouche, a well-connected attorney, and his firm Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello have been responsible for bringing many of the lawsuits against oil companies in the state.
Louisiana's economy has long been heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry and the industry holds significant political power. Even so, Louisiana's staunchly pro-industry Gov. Jeff Landry has supported the lawsuits, including bringing the state on board during his tenure as Attorney General.
Oil companies have fought tooth and nail to quash the litigation, including unsuccessfully lobbying Louisiana's Legislature to pass a law to invalidate the claims. Chevron and other firms also repeatedly tried to move the lawsuits into federal court where they believed they would find a more sympathetic audience.
But the heavy price Chevron is set to pay could hasten other firms to seek settlements in the dozens of other lawsuits across Louisiana. Plaquemines alone has 20 other cases pending against oil companies.
The state is running out of money to support its ambitious coastal restoration plans, which have been fueled by soon-expiring settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and supporters of the litigation say payouts could provide a much-needed injection of funds.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Champions League winner PSG short-lists two sites outside Paris for future stadium
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain has short-listed two sites outside the capital city to build its future stadium. The Qatar Sports Investments-owned club wants its own stadium, but Paris city hall has so far refused to sell Parc des Princes, the 48,000-capacity venue that has served as PSG's home since 1972. 'Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League triumph marks a major milestone in the club's development,' PSG said in a statement Tuesday. 'In order to remain competitive at the highest level, to consolidate its business model over the long term and to welcome a greater number of supporters in the best possible conditions, the club must now acquire a stadium that matches its ambitions. This is an essential prerequisite if the club is to sustain its growth over the long term.' PSG said it will now focus on two sites — one in the town of Massy, just south of Paris near Orly airport; the other in Poissy, 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of the city. The club opened its new training center in Poissy last year. 'Further studies will be undertaken to assess more precisely the real feasibility of such a project on each of the two sites and to build an ambitious, responsible and meaningful project for the club, our supporters and the local authorities for the coming decades,' PSG said. 'At this stage, neither of the two sites is favored," it added. "The club will conduct both studies with the same seriousness, rigor and openness, in order to make the best possible decision.' PSG said it will keep playing at the Parc des Princes 'for several years' until the final project is delivered. PSG said last year it had invested more than 85 million euros ($92 million) in maintenance costs for the Parc des Princes, adding that it was committed to investing a further 500 million euros in renovations in order to compete with other clubs at the highest level in Europe. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said after PSG's Champions League victory that she would be open to refurbishment works to increase the stadium's capacity, although she remains opposed to a sale. ___
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Citing trade wars, the World Bank sharply downgrades global economic growth forecast to 2.3%
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's trade wars are expected to slash economic growth this year in the United States and around the world, the World Bank forecast Tuesday. Citing 'a substantial rise in trade barriers'' but without mentioning Trump by name, the 189-country lender predicted that the U.S. economy – the world's largest – would grow half as fast (1.4%) this year as it did in 2024 (2.8%). That marked a downgrade from the 2.3% U.S. growth it had forecast back for 2025 back in January. The bank also lopped 0.4 percentage points off its forecast for global growth this year. It now expects the world economy to expand just 2.3% in 2025, down from 2.8% in 2024. In a forward to the latest version of the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects report, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill wrote that the global economy has missed its chance for the 'soft landing'' — slowing enough to tame inflation without generating serious pain — it appeared headed for just six months ago. 'The world economy today is once more running into turbulence,' Gill wrote. 'Without a swift course correction, the harm to living standards could be deep.'' America's economic prospects have been clouded by Trump's erratic and aggressive trade policies, including 10% taxes — tariffs — on imports from almost every country in the world. These levies drive up costs in the U.S. and invite retaliation from other countries. The Chinese economy is forecast to see growth slow from 5% in 2024 to 4.5% this year and 4% next. The world's second-largest economy has been hobbled by the tariffs that Trump has imposed on its exports, by the collapse of its real estate market and by an aging workforce. The World Bank expects the 20 European countries that share the euro currency to collectively grow just 0.7% this year, down from an already lackluster 0.9% in 2024. Trump's tariffs are expected to hurt European exports. And the unpredictable way he rolls them out — announcing them, suspending them, coming up with new ones — has created uncertainty that discourages business investment. India is once again expected to the be world's fastest-growing major economy, expanding at a 6.3% clip this year. But that's down from 6.5% in 2024 and from the 6.7% the bank had forecast for 2025 in January. In Japan, economic growth is expected to accelerate this year – but only from 0.2% in 2024 to a sluggish 0.7% this year, well short of the 1.2% the World Bank had forecast in January. The World Bank seeks to reduce poverty and boost living standards by providing grants and low-rate loans to poor economies. Another multinational organization that seeks to promote global prosperity — the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — last week downgraded its forecast for the U.S. and global economies. Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten

an hour ago
Trump's tax bill could raise taxes on foreign companies
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump likes to say he's bringing in trillions of dollars in investments from foreign countries, but a provision in his tax cuts bill could cause international companies to avoid expanding into the United States. The House-passed version of the legislation would allow the federal government to impose taxes on foreign-parented companies and investors from countries judged as charging 'unfair foreign taxes' on U.S. companies. Known as Section 899, the measure could cause companies to avoid investing in the the U.S. out of concern they could face steep taxes. The fate of the measure rests with the Senate — setting off a debate about its prospects and impact. A new analysis by the Global Business Alliance, a trade group representing international companies such as Toyota and Nestlé, estimates that the provision would cost the U.S. 360,000 jobs and $55 billion annually over 10 years in lost gross domestic product. The analysis estimates that the tax could cut a third off the economic growth anticipated from the overall tax cuts by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation. "While proponents say this punitive tax hike is intended as a retaliatory measure against foreign governments, this report confirms that the real victims are American workers in states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas," said Jonathan Samford, president and CEO of the Global Business Alliance. Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, has defended the provision as protecting U.S. interests by giving the president a tool that can be used against countries with tax codes that, in the federal government's opinion, put American companies at a disadvantage. 'If these countries withdraw these taxes and decide to behave, we will have achieved our goal," Smith said in a statement last week. "It's just common sense. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move quickly to pass this bill and protect Americans from economic bad actors around the world.' The tax gets at a fundamental tension within Trump's policy agenda: a contradiction in the broad strokes of Trump simultaneously trying to tax imports and foreign profits at higher rates while also seeking investments from companies headquartered abroad. In late May, Trump defended his approach by saying that his tariffs were causing more countries to invest in the U.S. to avoid imports getting taxed. While some countries and companies have made announcements, there is not evidence of the investments pushing up spending on new factories as measured in the government's monthly report on construction spending. The Republican president said his tendency to impose steep tariffs, then retreat to lower rates, had succeeded. 'We have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing,' Trump said then. 'You know we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. I went to Saudi Arabia, the king told me, he said, you got the hottest -- we have the hottest country in the world right now.' The Global Business Alliance was among the groups that signed a letter on Monday warning of the consequences of Section 899 to Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho, both Republicans. The Investment Company Institute, representing financial firms, said the provision 'could limit foreign investment to the U.S. — a key driver of growth in American capital markets that ultimately benefits American families saving for their futures.' The analysis performed by EY Quantitative Economics and Statistics notes there is a degree of uncertainty in how the taxes under Section 899 could be implemented. But they could be charged against companies based in countries that tax digital services, as is the case in parts of Europe. If the U.S. judged the taxes unfair, there would be a 30% tax rate on foreign companies' profits and income. People working in the U.S. for the companies who are not citizens could also be taxed, among other provisions. The possibility of the taxes and seemingly arbitrary nature by which they could be imposed is also a challenge, said Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of New York University's Tax Law Center. 'Section 899 creates a game of political chicken with trade partners that risks harming businesses, consumers, and workers in the hopes of securing US multinationals the ability to shift more of their profits out of the US to tax havens," Huang said in an email. 'It's a high-risk strategy that could expand the damage of the failed tariff war.' There could also be political repercussions if key states in Trump's political coalition from 2024 suffer layoffs or simply find job growth slowing. The Global Business Alliance finds job losses could amount to 44,200 in Florida, 27,700 in Pennsylvania, 24,500 in North Carolina and 23,500 in Michigan.