Court Opinion

ID: 9906107
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-30 23:04:25.624006+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:06.126287
License: Public Domain

STATE OF LOUISIANA

                                 COURT OF APPEAL

                                    FIRST CIRCUIT

                                   NO. 2022 CA 1169

            LOUISIANA WETLANDS, LLC AND NEW 90, LLC

                                         VERSUS

  ENERGEN RESOURCES CORPORATION, CHEVRON USA, INC.,
  SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS COMPANY, LLC, EP ENERGY E& P
        COMPANY, LP, AND BRAMMER ENGINEERING, INC.

                                                 Judgment Rendered:    NOV 3 0 2023

                                    On Appeal from the
                                16th Judicial District Court

                              In and for the Parish of St. Mary
                                     State of Louisiana
                                 District Court No. 130527

                      Honorable Suzanne deMahy, Judge Presiding

 Bernard E. Boudreaux, Jr.                       Attorneys for PlaintiffAppellant,
 John T. Arnold                                  James J. Bailey, 111, individually and
 Baton Rouge, LA                                 as representative of the Successions of
                                                 Willie Palfrey Foster and Fairfax
                                                 Foster Bailey

 Christopher W. Swanson
 Danielle C. Teutonico
 E. Blair Schilling
 Emma E. Daschbach
 Gladstone N. Jones, III
 James R. Swanson
 Kevin E. Huddell
 Lance C. McCardle
 Lindsay E. Reeves
 Michael P. Arata
 Rosa E. Acheson
 New Orleans, LA

 Robert P. Fuhrer

 Morgan City, LA
ck'   Z .         C0AC,%.rS              re   Son S
                                                               C 414
Bradley J. Schlotterer                   Attorneys for Plaintiff A
                                                                 - ppellant,
Daniel B. Stanton                        Brammer Engineering, Inc.
New Orleans, LA

Claire E. Juneau                         Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee,
Edward H. Warner                         Chevron U.S. A., Inc.
John C. Funderbunk
Louis V. Gregoire, Jr.
Baton Rouge, LA

Claudia Carrizales
Louis M. Grossman
Michael R. Phillips
New Orleans, LA

Brian D. Melton
David M. Peterson
Elizabeth R. Taber
Laranda M. Walker
Houston, TX

Alan J. Berteau                          Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee,
Richard D. McConnell, Jr.                Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC
Tyler M. Kostal
Baton Rouge, LA

Chynna M. Anderson
Rachel M. Scarafia
New Orleans, LA

Andrew J. Brien                          Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee,
David S. Landry                          Energen Resources Corporation
Russell L. Foster
New Orleans, LA

Esteban Herrera, Jr.                     Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee,
Richard D. McConnell, Jr.                EP Energy E& P Company, LP
Samuel O. Lumpkin
Baton Rouge, LA

Brittan J. Bush                          Attorneys for Defendant -Appellee,
Court C. VanTassell                      BP America Production Company
Emily C. Borgen
George Arceneaux, III
John S. Troutman
Penny L. Malbrew
Lafayette, LA

Kelly B. Becker
New Orleans, LA

                  BEFORE: THERIOT, CHUTZ, AND HESTER, JJ.

                                     2
HESTER, J.

        In this legacy litigation,'        James J.     Bailey, III, individually and as the

representative of the Successions of Willie Palfrey Foster and Fairfax Foster Bailey

  plaintiff'),    appeals a judgment dated July 15, 2022, by which the district court

adopted the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation' s

  LDNR"),        Most Feasible Plan for Necessary Evaluation (" MFP") in accordance

with Louisiana Revised Statute 30: 29.'            For the following reasons, we affirm the

district court' s judgment.

                       FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

        This case involves a 300 -acre tract of land located in St. Mary Parish, near the

Town of Franklin.         It is undisputed that oil and gas exploration and production

activities were conducted on various areas of the property, beginning in 1948.

However, in December 2016, the original plaintiffs, Louisiana Wetlands, LLC and

New 90, LLC, 3 filed this lawsuit, alleging that soil and groundwater testing

conducted on the property revealed contamination and environmental damage

caused by these historical oil and gas operations.                In the Petition for Damages,

  As noted by the Louisiana Supreme Court, these types of actions are referred to as " legacy
litigation"
          because they often arise from operations conducted many decades ago, leaving an
unwanted " legacy" in the farm of actual or alleged contamination.        See Marin v. Exxon Mobil
Corporation, 2009- 2368, 2009- 2371 ( La. 10119110), 48 So. 3d 234, 238, n. 1,( citing Loulan Pitre,
Jr., " Legacy Litigation" and Act 312 of 2006, 20 Tul. Envt. L.J. 347, 348 ( Summer 2007)).

z Louisiana Revised Statute 30: 29, sometimes referred to as " Act 312," has a stated legislative
purpose of "ensur[ ing] that damage to the environment is remediated to a standard that protects
the public interest. To this end, this Section provides the procedure for judicial resolution of claims
for environmental damage to property arising from activities subject to the jurisdiction of the
Department of Natural Resources, [ O] ffice of [C] onservation."     La. R.S. 30: 29( A). Of note, the
Commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, has " jurisdiction
and authority over all persons and property necessary to enforce effectively the provisions of this
Chapter and all other laws relating to the conservation of oil or gas."   La. R. S. 30: 4( A),

3 James J. Bailey, III, individually and as representative ofthe Successions of Willie Palfrey Foster
and Fairfax Foster Bailey, is the sole remaining plaintiff in this suit. Through the second
supplemental and amending petition, Louisiana Wetlands, LLC was removed as party plaintiff,
and Mr. Bailey added as a new party plaintiff. All claims of New 90, LLC were later dismissed
through summary judgment. Louisiana Wetlands, LLC v. Energen Resources Corporation,
2021- 0290 (La. App. 1st Cir. 10/ 4/ 21), 330 So. 3d 674, 680, writ denied, 2021- 01610 (La. 1/ 12122),
330 So. 3d 614.

                                                   3
numerous        defendants were named,         including appellees, Chevron U.S. A.               Inc.

     Chevron")    and Southern Natural Gas Company, L.L.C. ("                  SNG"),     who     were

alleged to have "       conducted,    directed and participated in various oil and gas

exploration and production activities and/or working interest owners and/ or joint

venturers in the Franklin Field and on [ the] property," which activities included " the

operation or construction of various oil and gas facilities, including but not limited

to    pits,   sumps,   pipelines,   flowlines, tank batteries,       wellheads,     and measuring

facilities." The Petition also claimed that "[ d] efendants knew or should have known

that their day to day operations [... ]          would cause the soil,        surface    waters    and

groundwater of Plaintiffs' property to be contaminated[.]                  Defendants' failure to

timely remove or remediate this toxic pollution in the soils and groundwater of

Plaintiffs' property has allowed the pollution to migrate and spread, thereby causing

damages, including but not limited to, contained soil and groundwater, land loss, and

loss of timber[,]" and that "[ a] t no time did [ d] efendants issue any warning to

Plaintiffs that their disposal and discharge activities were hazardous to [ the]

property[.]"

         In August and September of 2020, and in accordance with La. Code Civ. P.

art. 1563( A)( 1) 4, SNG and Chevron, respectively, filed limited admissions with the

district court, each admitting to being a " responsible party" for the environmental

damage occurring on plaintiffs property. As a result, the district court referred the

4 Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1563( A)( 1) provides, " lilf any party admits liability
for environmental damage pursuant to R.S. 30: 29, that party may elect to limit this admission of
liability for environmental damage to responsibility for implementing the most feasible plan to
evaluate, and if necessary, remediate all or a portion of the contamination that is the subject of the
litigation to applicable regulatory standards, hereinafter referred to as a ` limited admission.' A
limited admission shall not be construed as an admission of liability for damages under R.S.
30: 29( H), nor shall a limited admission result in a waiver of any rights or defenses of the admitting
Pty

                                                  4
matter to LDNR',          ordering SNG and Chevron to submit plans for evaluation or

remediation of environmental damage to applicable regulatory standards. SNG and

Chevron timely submitted plans to LDNR on September 11, 2020 and November 9,

2020, respectively; plaintiff did not submit any plan to LDNR.

        Following a four-day hearing in February 2021, LDNR "partially accept[ ed]"

the plans submitted by Chevron and SNG, but ultimately structured its own plan, the

underlying MFP, which required further evaluation and testing in some areas of

plaintiffs property, remediation of soils in some areas, and groundwater monitoring

in other areas.         Of particular note, the MFP required additional groundwater

classification before appropriate remediation standards could be applied: " the

development of RECAP concentration standards cannot be accurately determined

because [ LDNR] cannot make an accurate determination regarding the groundwater

classification at this time."           Moreover, the MFP expressly stated, "[ a]            MFP[,]

including the full cost of remediation[] cannot be provided at this time by [ LDNR],

but can only be developed after the full extent of contamination has been

determined."       LDNR' s MFP was then submitted to the district court in accordance

with La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 2) & (       4) by way of a joint motion from Chevron and SNG.

        The matter came before the district court on July 14- 15, 2022, with the district

court granting Chevron and SNG' s motion to adopt LDNR' s MFP, finding " no

deficiencies" therein. Of note, although not submitted to LDNR, plaintiff did submit

to the district court his proposed most feasible plan, the " ICON plan,"                  which the

district court determined was not more feasible, as it called for " immediate

remediation of soil and groundwater regardless of whether it has been fully

determined that full remediation and/ or background groundwater remediation is

5 See La. Code Civ. P. art. 1563( A)(2) ("[... ]   if one or more of the defendants have made a timely
limited admission, the court shall refer the matter to the Department of Natural Resources, [ O] ffice
of [ C] onservation, [... ],   to conduct a public hearing to approve or structure a plan which the
department determines to be the most feasible plan to evaluate or remediate the environmental
damage under the applicable regulatory standards pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 30:29."
                                                     5
necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people." In giving reasons

for judgment,       the district court expressly noted that the engineers who drafted

plaintiff' s ICON plan did not consider Act 312 in its formation, and did not conduct

a risk assessment as a part of the ICON plan.             The district court concluded, stating,

  r] equiring remediation without first completing a full evaluation of environmental

damage is unreasonable, and not feasible. This [ c] ourt accepts and adopts the LDNR

Plan as the Most Feasible Plan for Evaluation pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes

30:29."     Lastly, the district court allowed Chevron and SNG to submit a bond in the

amount       of $   1, 082,400. 00,    in   lieu   of a   cash   deposit,     to     fund the   MFP' s

implementation.        It is from this judgment that plaintiff seeks review.6

                                ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

       Plaintiff assigns the following as error:

           1. The district court erred in adopting an MFP for evaluation that does
       not address the remediation standards that will apply to the remediation
       methods that are adopted at the end of the ordered evaluation.

       2. The [ d] istrict [ c] ourt erred in adopting an MFP that leaves open the
       possibility that LDNR could subsequently order a remediation that
       allows Chevron and SNG exceptions from the applicable regulatory
       requirements.

                                        DISCUSSION

       From the outset, we are compelled to take note of the constrained review

available to this court. Under the framework of Act 312, "[ i] n all cases in which a

party makes a limited admission of liability ...                    there    shall    be   a rebuttable

presumption that the plan approved or structured by [ LDNR], ... shall be the most

feasible plan to evaluate or remediate to applicable regulatory standards the

environmental         damage     for    which      responsibility    is     admitted."       La.   R.S.

6 Louisiana Revised Statute 30: 29( C)( 6)( a) states, "[ ajny judgment adopting a plan of evaluation
or remediation pursuant to this Section and ordering the party or parties admitting responsibility
or the party or parties found legally responsible by the court to deposit funds for the
implementation thereof into the registry of the court pursuant to this Section shall be considered a
final judgment pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure Article 2081 et seq., for purposes of
appeal."

                                                    2
30: 29( C)( 2)( c).   Next, unless the plaintiff can prove by a preponderance of the

evidence that " another       plan is a more feasible plan to adequately protect the

environment and the public health, safety,              and   welfare[,]"    the district court is

mandated to adopt the plan advanced by LDNR. La. R. S. 30: 29( C)( 5). 7 Lastly, and

in continuing Act 312' s clear deference to remediation plans advanced by LDNR,

any review by the appellate court is limited to a binary option: it " may affirm the

trial court' s adoption of a plan or may adopt a feasible plan in conformity with this

Section and shall issue written reasons for its decision."              La. R. S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( c).$

Under the limited review available to this court, contrary to arguments by plaintiff,9

no option exists to vacate or remand to the district court to correct any alleged errors

contained in remediation plans submitted to, and adopted by, it, or for this court to

select portions of plans submitted to the district court and create our own.

        At the district court, as noted above, plaintiff submitted his ICON plan, which

was rejected as not being a more feasible plan than the plan submitted by LDNR.

However, upon seeking review with this court, we note plaintiff did not assign as

error that the district court failed to find his ICON plan proved by a preponderance

of the evidence that it "is a more feasible plan to adequately protect the environment

 We note, in contrast, Sweet Lake Land and Oil Company v. Oleum Operating Company,
                                  10118/ 17), 229 So. 3d 993, 1001, wherein the district court
L.C., 2017- 464 ( La. App. 3rd Cir.
refused to adopt an MFP advanced by LDNR which " did not have sufficient information to
formulate a plan for remedial action in certain areas, namely groundwater contamination and
flowlines."   The district court determined that the plan submitted by LDNR " did not constitute a
final plan, and, therefore, the submission was incomplete. The [ district] court ordered LDNR to
supplement the plan submitted to the court to include options for groundwater remediation." Id.
at 1002.   Despite the statutory mandate of La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 5),   on review, the appellate court

found no error in the district court' s failure to approve the final plan or in its order to supplement
the plan. Id.

8 Although La. R. S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( b) provides this court with a de novo standard of review, this
appears incongruent with the restricted options available to this court upon such review.

9 In brief, plaintiff argues, without jurisprudential support, that this court, under La. R.S.
30: 29( C)( 6), may " vacate the order of the district court adopting the MFP and remanding with
instructions to remand to LDNR to propose a MFP that states the remedial standards that will apply
to the remediation that will follow on the further evaluation, and that forecloses any exceptions
from those standards; or it may vacate the order of the district court and render its own order
adopting the MFP[.]" Additionally, plaintiff asserts this court has " sui generis plan -formation
authority provided under Act 312." However, the plain language of the statute does not provide
the appellate court those options.

                                                  7
and the public health, safety, and welfare."              La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 5).         Additionally,

neither in his brief nor his prayer for relief does plaintiff argue for the adoption of

his ICON plan by this court. Although plaintiff designated the record on appeal to

address the issue of whether his " proposed MFP constituted a ` more feasible plan'

under Act 312[,]"      it is well established that matters neither assigned as error, nor

argued, may be considered abandoned.               Uniform Rules -Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-

12. 4( B)( 4); Doucet v. Champagne, 94- 1631 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 417195), 657 So -2d

92, 100, writ denied, 95- 1759 ( La. 11/ 3/ 95), 661 So.2d 1379.               Accordingly, due to

the lack of such an assignment of error or briefing on the part ofplaintiff, any review

by this court as to whether plaintiffs ICON plan is a more feasible one, in total, is

not before us, 10 and there are otherwise no plans this court may adopt to satisfy La.

R.S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( c).

        Based on the arguments presented before us, and in accordance with La. R.S.

30: 29( C)( 6)( c), we find that we are constrained to affirm the district court' s July 15,

2022 judgment adopting LDNR' s MFP. Nevertheless, and in addition, we briefly

turn to plaintiffs' two assignments of error. First, plaintiff argues the district court

 failed procedural rectitude" by adopting an evaluation MFP that does not provide

the applicable remediation standards to be applied following the ordered evaluation.

        It is undisputed that Act 312 does not require LDNR to structure a remediation

plan,   as the statute makes clear that the most feasible plan may call solely for

 evaluation,"    including additional " investigation [ and] testing.""             Further, because

La. R.S. 30: 29( I)( 2) defines " environmental damage" as any " actual or potential

10 Chevron and SNG argue to this court that plaintiff, by failing to assign the district court' s refusal
to adopt the ICON plan as error, has abandoned this issue before the appellate court.

  See La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 2)( a) ("[ LDNR] shall approve or structure a final plan ... which [ LDNR]
determines to be the most feasible plan to evaluate or remediate the environmental damage ....);
La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( a) (" Any judgment adopting a plan of evaluation or remediation ... shall be
considered a final judgment ....");   La. R.S. 30: 29( G) (" The provisions of [Act 3121 are intended
to ensure evaluation or remediation of environmental damage.");               La.   R.S.   30: 29( 1)( 3) "`
 e] valuation or remediation' shall include but not be limited to investigation, testing, monitoring,
containment, prevention, or abatement."

                                                   8
impact ...   caused by contamination resulting from activities associated with oilfield

sites or exploration and production sites[,]"   the Louisiana Legislature has provided

a way to allow defendants to issue a limited admission of liability pursuant to Act

312 —as Chevron and SNG did herein -- such that the process " for implementing the

most feasible plan to evaluate, and if necessary, remediate"              the environmental

damage can begin.         See La. Code Civ. P.    art.   1563( A)( 1) (   emphasis   added).

Therefore, we agree with defendants: "[     b] ecause Act 312 allows LDNR to issue a

plan for further evaluation before making a final decision on remediation, it follows

that an evaluation plan need not identify the specific numeric values to which

constituents in the soil and groundwater may need to be remediated if remediation

ultimately proves [ un] necessary after further evaluation."    Without the results of the

evaluation, the necessity, extent, and components of additional remediation cannot

be known.

      Moreover, should remediation be necessary following the MFP' s ordered

evaluation, according to LDNR, the " principal regulatory standard for groundwater

evaluation and/ or remediation in every Act 312 [ case] where groundwater has been

an issue[]"    has been LDEQ' s Risk Evaluation and Corrective Action Plan

 RECAP").         In   fact,   LDNR and LDEQ entered into a memorandum                    of

understanding that streamlines the use of RECAP procedures for the evaluation or

remediation of groundwater conditions at oilfield sites.        The use of RECAP as an

applicable regulatory standard to groundwater is critical because, under RECAP,

appropriate and acceptable groundwater standards are separated according to

groundwater classification, and soil standards are separated according to land use.

Therefore, once the land use and groundwater classification are determined, the

 final numerical value[ s]" for acceptable concentrations in the soil and groundwater

can be established.    As noted, the MVP at issue specifically states " the development

of RECAP concentration standards cannot be accurately determined because

                                            I
LDNR]     cannot make an accurate determination regarding the groundwater

classification at this time.   These values will be established after determination of

the groundwater classification.      RECAP parameters shall be delineated to non-

industrial concentrations."      Therefore, we find that, consistent with RECAP' s

framework, the adopted MVP prescribed the path to determine the final numeric

values that will apply to any additional remediation conducted after the required

groundwater evaluation.    This assignment of error lacks merit.

      Second, plaintiff argues, without any statutory or jurisprudential support, that

the district court erred by adopting an MFP which leaves open the possibility that

LDNR could subsequently order a remediation to which defendants might obtain an

exception from the applicable regulatory requirements. However, based on the same

reasoning as addressed above, if LDNR were required to definitively grant or deny

any exception from the remediation standards before the environmental damage is

fully evaluated, Act 312' s option for evaluation plans is pointless.     We find the

plaintiff' s argument is without merit.

                                 CONCLUSION

      For the above reasons and, in compliance with Louisiana Revised Statute

30: 29( C)( 6)( c), the district court' s July 15, 2022 judgment adopting the Louisiana

Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation' s, Most Feasible Plan for

Necessary Evaluation is affirmed.         Costs of this appeal are assessed against

plaintiff/appellant, James J. Bailey, 1II, individually and as representative of the

Successions of Willie Palfrey Foster and Fairfax Foster Bailey.

      F.-
       V"- V16RUT- r" 1

                                            10
LOUISIANA WETLANDS, LLC                                  STATE OF LOUISIANA
AND NEW 90, LLC

VERSUS                                                   COURT OF APPEAL

ENERGEN RESOURCES CORPORATION,
CHEVRON USA, INC., SOUTHERN                              FIRST CIRCUIT
NATURAL GAS COMPANY, LLC,
EP ENERGY E& P COMPANY, LP,
AND BRAMMER ENGINEERING, INC.                            2022 CA 1169

 VJ    C-
                1   C 414
Chutz, J., concurs in the result and assigns reasons.

       I assign reasons for the limited purpose of pointing out that, while concurring

in the result reached by the majority, I disagree with the statement in the majority

opinion that the de nova standard of review provided in La. R.S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( b)

 appears incongruent with the restricted options available to this court upon such

review."
            In appeals such as the present one, this court's options are limited by La.

R.S. 30: 29( C)( 6)( c) to either affirming the trial court' s adoption of a plan or adopting

a feasible plan in conformity with La. R.S. 30:29.        I see no incongruence between

the limitation to these options and the application of a de novo standard of review by

this court.   Rather, I believe the legislative intent is that this court should apply a de

novo standard of review in determining whether sufficient evidence was presented

to overcome the rebuttable presumption in favor of LDNR's plan, as well as in

deciding which of the two available options is appropriate.              In my view, the

legislature' s specific provision for a de novo standard of review on appeal is a clear

indication this court is not " constrained"     to affirm the trial court' s judgment by

deferring to its determinations.