ByFelicity Bradstock– Apr 13, 2025, 2:00 PM CDT

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Jurors decided that Texaco, a Chevron-owned company at the time, had violated Louisiana’s state regulations on coast resources because it did not restore wetlands that had been affected by oil activities, such as dredging canals, drilling wells, and dumping billions of gallons of wastewater into the marsh. It was found that Chevron did not obtain the necessary permits at its Breton Sound oil field operations, located southeast of New Orleans, and failed to clean up its mess, which led the environment to be contaminated by the poor storing of wastewater or wastewater being dumped in the marsh.

However, Chevron argues that it “is not the cause of the land loss occurring in Breton Sound.” The company suggests that decades of land degradation cannot be blamed on the oil operations of one company alone. Nevertheless, Louisiana has lost over 2,000 square miles of land, due to rising sea levels and sediment loss, with Plaquemines Parish particularly affected. The state has plans for a 50-year, $50 billion coastal restoration strategy aimed at saving as much land as possible from the rising Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana has also received billions of dollars from a settlement from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The court decision could set the basis for similar legal battles from other parishes and counties. Another 39 lawsuits have been launched against fossil fuels companies by coastal parishes since 2013. This action is not only restricted to U.S. coastal regions, with several towns, cities, and states blaming oil companies for environmental degradation. For example, in Los Angeles, residents affected by the recent wildfires are calling for oil companies to be made to pay damages for the role they played in the current climate disaster. 

Scientists are currently working to understand how much of an impact the climate crisis had on the L.A. wildfires. In January, UCLA climate scientists determined that it was likely responsible for a quarter of the dryness that fuelled the rapid spread of the fires. In addition, there is growing evidence that Big Oil was aware of the damage being caused by fossil fuel operations despite spending decades denying global heating and encouraging consumers to support projects. This has led cities and states, including California, to file litigation aimed at holding oil companies accountable for the alleged disinformation campaign and forcing them to pay damages.

Meanwhile, in 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Justice Department ordered Holly Energy Partners-Operating and Osage Pipe Line Company to pay $7.4 million in civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, as well as implement corrective measures to settle claims associated with the Osage pipeline rupture and crude oil spill on tribal land owned by members of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. The companies were also ordered to take additional steps to prepare for and prevent future spills.

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