Photo/Tim Carruthers, Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

The statement below was delivered on July 30, 2013 in front of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court at 421 Loyola Avenue in New Orleans.

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Act 1 of the 2006 Louisiana Legislature created the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authorities, two independent boards that are shielded from political influence. 

The SLFPA-East’s lawsuit––demanding that 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies restore Louisiana’s wetlands and pay damages to the state––will test the spirit of that legislation.

We note that through the 20th century, the oil, gas and pipeline companies could have significantly limited the damage their activities caused to Louisiana’s natural hurricane–buffering wetlands.

The companies carved navigation channels, oil-rig inlets and pipeline canals through a living and delicate coastal delta. The companies knew––or should have known––the damage they were doing.

The companies could have properly decommissioned the channels, inlets and canals after their use had ended. But instead they left the wetlands carved up and slashed to erode and to allow substantial salt water intrusion which continues to kill the remaining healthy wetlands. 

Therefore, we, Levees.org agree that the oil, gas and pipeline companies should be held responsible for their negligence and subsequent damage to Louisiana’s valuable natural coastal infrastructure. 

We agree with and support the East Authority’s lawsuit filed in Civil District Court in New Orleans on July 24, 2013.