American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2017 - 93

ConventionSection: Louisiana Oil & Gas Association

Legacy, Coastal Lawsuits
Awaiting Resolution
By Dan Holder
BATON ROUGE, LA.-Louisiana's oil
and natural gas industry continues to survive despite, not because of, many of the
state's elected officials, assesses Louisiana
Oil & Gas Association Chairman Bryan
Hanks.
He recalls a visit to a client to evaluate
possible asset acquisitions.
"He was saying how friendly the governor of that state was, how inviting to
industry it was," says Hanks, president
and chief executive officer of BETA Land
Services LLC in Lafayette, La. "It is very
refreshing to know there are states where
the governors, legislators, and conservation
officials understand the value the oil and
gas industry brings. They acknowledge
it, and they are welcoming. I can fully
understand that companies would want
to do business there. Unfortunately, that
is not the case in Louisiana right now."
Speaking in advance of LOGA's annual
convention, scheduled for March 8-10 at
the Golden Nugget Resort Casino in Lake
Charles, La., Hanks says more than four
owners of companies have told him
Louisiana's litigious climate is keeping
them from doing business there. He says
that the state's anti-industry attitude can
best be seen in two legal campaigns targeting oil and gas activities: lawsuits involving legacy environmental impacts,
and coastal damages.
Legacy Lawsuits
Louisiana operators continue to face
legal action over allegations of environmental damage caused years or decades
ago, says Gifford Briggs, acting LOGA
president. "The legacy lawsuits are a
background to everything in Louisiana,"
he reports. "We are aware that we cannot
do anything legislatively with the current
administration. Even if we could get
something out of the House or Senate, it
likely would be subject to a veto. That
has taken many options off the table. To
a large degree, legacy lawsuits are a
mature industry. The lawyers are filing
the suits, rinsing and washing. But many
seem to have moved on to the coastal

LOGA Annual Meeting
Lake Charles, La.
Wednesday, March 8
10 a.m. Golf Tournament, Gray Plantation
Golf Club, Lake Charles
4-7 p.m. Registration Open, Grand Foyer,
Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino
5-7 p.m. Welcome Reception, Grand Foyer

Thursday, March 9
7 a.m. Registration Open, Grand Foyer,
Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino
8 a.m. Breakfast Session
8:45 a.m. Morning Session
11:45 a.m. Keynote Lunch
Speaker: Harold Hamm, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer, Continental
Resources Inc.
1:30 p.m. Louisiana Regulatory Panel
Discussion
Tom Harris, Secretary of Department of
Natural Resources; Richard Ieyoub,
Commissioner of Conservation; Dr.
Chuck Brown, Secretary of Department
of Environmental Quality; and Johnny
Bradberry, Governor's Executive Assistant for Coastal Activities
3-4:15 p.m. Legislative Panel Update
Representative Neil Abramson, D-New
Orleans; Representative Cameron Henry, R-Metairie
4:15 p.m. Tax Update
Daron Fredrickson, LOGA Tax Committee Chairman
6:30 p.m. Evening Reception
7 p.m. Dinner

Friday, March 10
8 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m. LOGA Board of Directors Meeting

lawsuits as their big target."
Hanks says if there is a silver lining in
the legacy lawsuit issue, it is that Louisiana
has an attorney general who is opposing
Governor John Bel Edwards and his plans
for the state to litigate the matter through
private lawyers. He elaborates that Jeff
Landry, the Republican AG, so far has
been able to minimize the legal impacts
of the Democratic governor.

According to media reports, Edwards
sued Landry on Sept. 30, arguing state law
required the attorney general to approve
several contracts between the governor's
office and private legal counsel hired to
pursue legacy lawsuits. A district judge denied the request in October, and the governor's office has appealed that decision.
"Until that hiring of outside counsel
gets resolved, it is hard for the state to
move forward with all the litigation it
has promised," Briggs says. "The attorneys
the governor has hired, or is planning to
hire, are the same ones we have been
fighting on legacy."
Hanks adds that it will take cooperation
among all parties to resolve the entire
package of legacy lawsuits, an effort that
must include rewriting the state's tort laws.
"The legacy lawsuit issue in Louisiana
is not a blanket indictment of all the state's
trial lawyers," Hanks assures. "Many fine
trial lawyers serve the public in the manner
as structured by the legal system: protecting
people against problems. But there is a
small, select group of lawyers who have
garnered tremendous wealth from legacy
lawsuits over the years, and they have
parlayed that into investing in judges, legislators, and now even the governor."
He says in addition to tort reform,
LOGA continues to monitor lawsuits
being adjudicated, and is working with
other groups and associations for legislative
remedies. "The association not only has
to fight the lawsuits head-on, but we have
to do a better job of letting the public
know everything positive the industry
does across the state. LOGA has to give
a better, more vocal and more united
message," Hanks urges.
Coastal Lawsuits
Numerous legal actions have been
filed in the state's coastal region by government entities, including the South
Louisiana Flood Protection AuthorityEast, as well as four parishes. The allegations focus on claims that historical
oil and gas activity, including dredging
canals, is responsible for seawater incursions that cause coastal erosion (AOGR,
November 2016, pg. 21).
FEBRUARY 2017 93

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