Chevron ordered to pay $745 million for damaging Louisiana wetlands over decades
A Louisiana jury found Chevron liable for decades of environmental damage in Plaquemines Parish, ordering the company to pay $745 million for land loss, contamination, and abandoned oil infrastructure.
Adeel Hassan reports for The New York Times.
In short:
- Plaquemines Parish argued that Chevron, through its acquisition of Texaco, violated state coastal laws by failing to restore wetlands and remove equipment after oil and gas operations ceased.
- The jury awarded compensation for environmental damage: $575 million for land loss, $161 million for pollution, and $8.6 million for leftover infrastructure.
- Despite the verdict, Chevron claims the 1980 law doesn’t apply to activity from earlier decades and plans to appeal.
Key quote:
“This verdict is just one step in the process to establish that the 1980 law does not apply to conduct that occurred decades before the law was enacted.”
— Mike Phillips, lead trial lawyer for Chevron
Why this matters:
Louisiana's coastal wetlands once formed a sprawling, sponge-like buffer shielding Gulf communities from hurricanes, storm surge, and sea-level rise. But decades of oil and gas development, including canal dredging and pipeline installation, have sliced the marshes into fragments and hastened their collapse. Every hour, roughly a football field of wetland vanishes, making way for open water where land once anchored ecosystems, livelihoods, and cultural traditions. Meanwhile, climate change adds a compounding pressure, pushing saltwater further inland and amplifying the intensity of storms. The degradation of these wetlands strips away one of the country’s most effective natural defenses against extreme weather.
Related EHN coverage: Amid LNG’s Gulf Coast expansion, community hopes to stand in its way
