The Fight for the Coast: Is Suit Against Oil Industry Part of the 'Master Plan'?

Abstract

Since 1932, the United States Geological Survey estimates Louisiana has lost more than 1,800 square miles of costal wetlands; an area roughly the size of Delaware. In an effort to address mounting catastrophic loss of coastal lands vital to the protection of Louisiana’s economic infrastructure, the state has adopted a massive 50-year, $50 Billion Plan to restore Louisiana’s coast while balancing the needs for conservation and economic growth. However, independent actions by various political subdivisions seek to resolve Louisiana’s coastal crisis in a different manner – taking the fight for the coast directly to Louisiana’s oil and gas industry. This article reviews the constitutional and statutory authority of a regional levee board to institute action against the oil and gas industry in light of post-Hurricanes Katrina and Rita legislative establishment of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, development and legislative approval of the Master Plan, amendment of the Louisiana Constitution, and the constitutional reorganization and regionalization of Louisiana’s levee boards. The scope of the levee board’s authority to sue and be sued is constitutionally constrained by the state’s police power. This beckons the question: To what extent must Louisiana's long history and deeply rooted notions of autonomous local rule yield to a comprehensive and coordinated statewide plan to repair and protect Louisiana's coastland?