The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued an 8-0 ruling in favor of Chevron on Friday Chevron USA Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana This overturned the appeals court decision and allowed Chevron to move the case from state court to federal court. The decision will give Chevron a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to do so Pay $744 million in 2025.
In 2013, Plaquemines Parish and other communities filed 42 state lawsuits against oil and gas companies 1978 State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act. Louisiana law prohibited certain uses of Louisiana’s coastal zone, including oil exploration, without permits. Last year, the first of those cases went to trial, and Chevron was ordered to pay $744 million in a lawsuit alleging that oil and gas drilling over many decades had damaged the state’s wetlands and made Louisiana more vulnerable to hurricanes and other storms.
The communities filed lawsuits against oil and gas companies stemming from crude oil production on the Louisiana coast during World War II. Although the 1978 law required uses to begin lawfully before 1980, plaintiffs argue that the 1980 limit did not apply because the companies did not follow prudent industry standards.
Chevron then attempted to withdraw the lawsuit in federal court Federal Relocation Act. This law allows a civil action or criminal prosecution commenced in a state court to be transferred to federal court if the action relates to actions “for or relating to” a party’s role under a federal official. Chevron argued that two of its predecessor companies had contracts with the federal government during World War II that required them to refine crude oil.
The fifth circle rejected this argumentand concluded that the company’s contract with the federal government did not require it to produce oil. SCOTUS reversed the Fifth Circuit’s decision in an opinion written by Clarence Thomas, finding that the case can be moved to federal court because the lawsuit involves Chevron’s activities that are closely related to its federal responsibilities.
Speaking to the Associated Press, attorney John Carmouche said: “Simply changing the venue in which the case is heard, as has happened, will not stop us from holding the oil companies accountable for the damage they have caused and the enormous reparations they owe the people of Louisiana.”
Judge Samuel Alito did not participate in the ruling because he owns stock in the parent company of one of the defendants.
