Chevron was ordered to pay more than $ 744 million in damages to destroy parts of the coastal wetlands in southeast Louisiana over the years.
On Friday, the decision, which came in the form of a civil jury verdict, marks the conclusion of the first trial among 42 prosecution filed approximately 12 years earlier, which allegedly alleged that the oil and gas projects of the company led to the degradation of the region’s wetlands. Among other things, wetlands play a key role by offering the region a measure of protection against hurricanes.
The jury noted that the Texaco oil brand, which belongs to Chevron, had violated the regulations of the State surrounding coastal resources by contributing to the disappeared coast through dredging channels, by drilling wells and pouring huge amounts of wastewater into the marshes.
The verdict could encourage other companies to settle other distinct but similar proceedings. However, Chevron’s lawyer Mike Phillips said the oil company intended to appeal the verdict.
According to the US Geological Survey, the coastal wetlands of Louisiana are among the most in danger of criticizing criticizing across the country because they undergo more loss of wetlands than all other states in the combined continental United States.
From 1932 to 2016, coastal Louisiana experienced a net change in the area of approximately -4,833 square kilometers, marking a decrease of around 25% in the land zone at the start of this period.
The channels used to create transport routes for oil and gas platforms have hampered natural water flow through wetland ecosystems, according to the center of the based basins. In addition, the channels create straight avenues which allow ocean waters to go around the Bayous and go instead directly inside the land during violent weather events.
According to a 1978 Louisiana management law, the sites used by oil companies must be “eliminated, reveled, detoxified and otherwise restored as possible at their original state” After the end of the projects of the companies, the reports of the Associated Press.
The parish in the south-eastern Louisiana of Louisiana de Plaquemines filed the prosecution against Chevron in 2013, asking for $ 2.6 billion in damages at the time. The parish has 20 additional pending cases against other oil companies.
On Friday, the jury granted various Platemines remuneration, including $ 575 million for the loss of land, $ 161 million for contamination – as well as $ 8.6 million for abandoned equipment.
Addressing the jurors, Jimmy Faircloth Jr, a lawyer representing the state of Louisiana, said that Chevron had declared that the parish of Platemines was not worth preserving, reported the Associated Press.
“Our communities are built on the coast, our families raised on the coast, our children go to school on the coast,” he said. He added: “The state of Louisiana will not return the coast. It is for the good of the state that the coast is maintained.”
According to the State Protection and Coastal Restoration Authority, Louisiana could lose up to an additional 3,000 miles over the next 50 years.
Phillips said Chevron was “not the cause of loss of land” in the plaquens. He said that the law does not apply to “the conduct that occurred from decades before the promulgation of the law”.
Phillips described the decision as “unfair”, saying that there were “many legal errors”.
