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Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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 Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:14 pm Post subject: SHARKS circling!!! Wetland lawsuit blames oil companies |
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Looks as though the sharks are circling! Guess the jackass attorneys are watching all the money being spent by the feds. Since none of them have any real work skills, they had to come up with a way to take some. They couldn't even wait until the phones and courts are back in New Orleans? This lawsuit wil do nothing but increase energy cost and run the oil business completely out of Louisiana. Permits have always been necessary from state and local agencies before any canals or oil extraction from Louisiana. In fact the state itself has and continues to benefit greatly from direct revenues from oil leases and taxation. So much so that many large oil companies have already abandoned Louisiana. IMO, these so called attorneys need to work the draglines and levee building for a long stint as laborers. On their off time they should work on the lawsuit by ammending it to include the Louisiana government and past and present government officials.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3859081
| Quote: | Wetland lawsuit blames oil companies
Sep 16, 2005, 09:18 AM Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version
Lawsuit blames oil companies for loss of wetlands, Katrina damage
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A lawsuit seeks what attorneys say could be billions of dollars from a long list of oil companies for damages to wetlands that would have allegedly softened Hurricane Katrina's blow.
The class-action suit, filed in federal court in Lafayette this week, names as plaintiffs "all persons, businesses and entities in the state of Louisiana who have suffered damages as a result of Hurricane Katrina's winds and storm surge."
At issue are the oil and gas pipeline canals that crisscross the state's coastal areas - canals blamed in part for the loss of coastal marsh, an important hurricane buffer for inland areas.
"There was no longer the natural barrier that God gave New Orleans," said New Orleans attorney Val Exnicios, who filed the lawsuit along with attorneys from the New Orleans firm of St. Martin & Willams.
The lawsuit names as defendants 11 oil and gas companies, including Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP Corp.
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Independent Oil and Gas Association, said the industry is "greatly saddened" by the effects of the hurricane but will not take the blame for its destruction.
"A hurricane like that would have done what it did regardless," he said.
Briggs also said that oil companies are more focused now on dealing with their own losses, including damaged infrastructure and the lost homes and possibly lives of employees.
Exnicios said the number of plaintiffs could be "a million or more" with monetary damages "in tens of billions if not hundreds of billions."
Damages are sought for home loss and damage, land loss, death, injuries, loss of business and anything else related to the storm, he said.
The legal issues are certain to be complex, and the burden of proof to place the blame oil companies could be tough to overcome, said William Goodell, a Lafayette attorney who has taught environmental law at Tulane and Loyola and once worked in the state Attorney General's Office environmental law section.
Oil and gas canals have long been blamed for cutting up coastal marshes and allowing salt water to intrude and tear away land. And state officials have long said the loss of coastal wetlands has made the state's populated areas more vulnerable to hurricanes.
But pipeline canals are among a list of other causes of the state's massive land loss, including the sinking of the coast and the levees along the Mississippi River, which hold back sediment-laden floodwaters that for centuries had built up coastal areas.
Goodell said that while science supports placing some blame for land loss on pipeline canals, the sticky legal question is how much - and whether a healthy marsh would have saved southeast Louisiana from such a powerful storm. |
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I B Squidly
Vice Admiral
Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 879
Location: Cactus Patch
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| Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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I'l leave it to the Bard:
_________________
"KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!"
-Wlm Shakespeare |
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Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 213
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| Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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Along the same lines of sharks circling is another item of interest below. It's already hard and costly enough to get homeowners insurance in Louisiana. And remember about all the past Louisiana state insurance commissioners in jail?
http://2theadvocate.com/stories/091605/new_actofgod001.shtml
| Quote: | 'Act of God,' 'rising water' ruling sought
By MARK BALLARD
mballard@theadvocate.com
Capitol news bureau
Thirty homeowners and businessmen asked a Baton Rouge judge Thursday to say how Hurricane Katrina caused the destruction of their property.
The lawsuit responds to insurance companies' stance that about 100,000 policies in southeast Louisiana do not cover losses suffered in the storm.
The lawsuit demands the court define terms such as "act of God" and "rising water" so that insurance companies will be required to pay.
Officials for the insurance companies testified at a Joint Legislative Insurance Committee Thursday that they would not pay for a lot of hurricane damage because the policies don't cover "rising water" or flooding.
The federal government sells insurance to cover flooding, but only about 40 percent of those whose property was destroyed bought flood insurance.
Those without flood insurance must pay for their losses, estimated at $25 billion.
If the court decides the flooding was not caused by an "act of God," then the homeowners' insurance policies would be required to pay.
"This is the most important issue facing not just us, but almost all of our constituents," Rep. Karen Carter, D-New Orleans, told the members of the committee, which she co-chairs.
"Let's define it now," Jim Brown told the lawmakers about two hours before the lawsuit was filed. The former state insurance commissioner says he is serving as an adviser for the homeowners filing the lawsuit.
Lawmakers huddled in groups of twos and threes during the hearing to discuss the lawsuit. Questioning of insurance company executives took the tone of courtroom cross-examinations.
Insurance executives and their lawyers stuck with the line that regular homeowners' policies exclude damage caused by flooding.
"To say insurance ought to cover claims for which they are not contracted and have not been paid premiums is to bankrupt the industry," said E.L. "Bubba" Henry, a Baton Rouge lawyer who lobbies for State Farm Insurance Co.
"I don't want to see the industry go bankrupt. But I don't want to see 50,000 to 100,000 people go bankrupt either," replied Rep. Peppi Bruneau, R-New Orleans.
Prior to the suit being filed, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley said that, while nobody knows, he guessed that 40 percent of the people whose property was destroyed did not have flood insurance.
For those facing the loss of all their property -- and they could number in the tens of thousands -- Wooley said federal aid may provide relief. In the past, the federal government has paid out grants and low-cost loans to help.
Baton Rouge lawyer Jerry McKernan is part of coalition of Louisiana lawyers, all with national reputations for winning large awards for injured clients, who are representing the homeowners and businessmen from Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
McKernan said that he had evidence that the hurricane did not push water over the top of levees. Rather, waters flowed through breaches in levees in seven locations and flooded 80 percent of the buildings.
"Therefore, it would not be an 'act of God' event," McKernan said.
Such a determination would require homeowners' policies to pay for the damage.
State District Judge Michael Caldwell was assigned to make the "declaratory judgment" that would define "rising water" and "act of God."
His definition likely will be reviewed by the 1st Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge and then by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
McKernan predicted a hearing on the case could begin as early as next week.
Calls to lawyers for the insurance companies were not returned. Wooley was named as the main defendant because, as the state's chief insurance regulator, he would have to enforce the court's order.
His agency's executive counsel said the levee breach was only one of several problems, including oil spills, pumps that didn't work and a 25-foot storm surge.
While a court-imposed definition would help resolve a conflict, "it wouldn't apply in all the different situations," Donelon said. |
| Quote: | Another Sad Day In Louisiana Politics
State Politics
Author: Jeff Crouere | 6/30/2005 Home : Politics
Louisiana voters should be used to this scenario by now, but it hurts every time it happens. Yesterday, sitting Jefferson Parish District Court Judge Alan Green was convicted of one count of mail fraud, while the jury deadlocked on the remaining six counts. The judge will be sentenced on September 22nd and faces up to 20 years in jail and removal from the bench. Alan Green joins Ronnie Bodenheimer, a former Jefferson Parish District Court Judge, as sitting jurists who have been nabbed in the government’s Wrinkled Robe investigation. Currently, Bodenheimer is serving a 46 month jail sentence.
<snip>
The whole unseemly mess is just the latest embarrassment to afflict Louisiana politics. In summary, here are some of our former elected officials our state has sent to jail in recent years:
Governor Edwin Edwards—still in jail
State Senate President Michael O’Keefe—still in jail
Jefferson Parish Judge Ronnie Bodenheimer—still in jail
Former elected officials recently released from jail include the following:
Insurance Commissioners Sherman Bernard, Doug Green and Jim Brown
Election Commissioner Jerry Fowler
State Representative and gubernatorial candidate David Duke
State Senator Larry Bankston
Numerous judges in Orleans Parish have been removed from the bench for conduct unbecoming of a jurist, such as former judges C. Hunter King, Sharon Hunter and Yvonne Hughes. Louisiana also has an Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom who was indicted on numerous charges, only to have them dropped after prosecutors failed to quickly move on the case.
Investigations are continuing into the Orleans Parish School Board and the administration of former Mayor of New Orleans Marc Morial. Four close associates of Morial have recently been indicted. The home of Jacques Morial, the brother of the former mayor, was raided by federal authorities and many boxes of material removed. The investigation will undoubtedly lead to more indictments and surely more high profile trials.
The indictments and convictions paint a portrait of Louisiana politics as a cesspool of corruption. The elected officials listed above have been caught or investigated, but they are not alone. According to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, “There are public officials out there who are living on the edge.” Whoever these public officials are, they need to be brought to justice and quickly. The State of Louisiana can no longer afford corrupt elected officials in office. It damages our image and ultimately damages our economy because what business in their right mind wants to relocate to a state where corruption thrives.
U.S. Attorney Letten is to be commended for his aggressive investigation into public corruption. His top notch office is committed to rooting out criminal behavior from the positions of power in this state. Unfortunately, in Louisiana, we don’t have enough people like Jim Letten; we have too many people like Judge Alan Green.
In Louisiana, we need elected officials who will bring honor and not shame to the state. We need behavior that is exemplary, not criminal. The public has been disappointed and disgraced by our politicians since the days of Huey Long. Of course there are many fine politicians in Louisiana, but their meritorious actions are overshadowed by the corrupt activities of their colleagues.
Louisiana will grow as a state economically when and only when we have changed our reputation for political corruption. We need to clean our own house. Unfortunately, in the last legislative session, bills to strengthen the state’s ethics laws died. Since the politicians don’t want to police themselves, it is up to prosecutors and more importantly the people. Voters need to do a much better job of evaluating candidates and electing ones of character, instead of ones with questionable ethics.
Louisiana is now at an important crossroads, as our state desperately needs to improve our image and grow our stagnant economy. We need to evolve to a state where the convictions of a sitting elected official and or judge become an extreme rarity, instead of a regular occurrence.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and his Louisiana based program, Ringside Politics, airs at 8:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 p.m. Sunday on WLAE-TV, Channel 32. Visit his website at www.ringsidepolitics.com and e-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com. |
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