Chevron seeks case move to fed court

Chevron U.S.A. Inc., one of 11 oil, gas and/or energy companies sued by New Orleans in an attempt to get monies for repair to city-surrounded wetlands damage, filed a removal motion April 4 to have the suit heard in federal court by claiming the case involved federal (not state) law cited within the suit. “For decades the energy industry has carried out its operations under federal supervision and in accordance with federal laws and regulations,” Melissa Landry said in a statement on behalf of the legal team representing Chevron and other companies. In the removal motion, Chevron compares NOLA’s lawsuit to a 2013 suit filed by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East in Civil District Court against 97 O&G companies that was successfully removed to federal court on grounds that it involved federal laws. A spokesman for the mayor’s office did not have an immediate comment on the removal action. (Source: NOLA.com 04/04/19) Orleans is the seventh parish to sue O&G firms over environmental damage.