Oil Industry Faces Litigation Worth Billions in Louisiana Courts (1)

Louisiana local governments scored what they called an “extraordinary victory” this week as federal judges allowed them to use the state court system to seek billions of dollars from oil and gas companies for the state’s receding coastline.

The Aug. 10 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit gives Louisiana parishes their preferred forum to pursue claims that Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron USA Inc., and other companies, both large and small, destroyed coastal marshes and wetlands by failing to follow state permits regulating well drilling, canal construction, waste disposal, and landscape restoration.

The litigation ...