Mineral law expert hopeful about legacy lawsuit legislation

Patrick Martin, director of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, says he’s hopeful that this year’s compromise on legislation addressing “legacy lawsuits” will effectively protect the rights of landowners and oil and gas companies. “We’ll see how it’s implemented,” he says. “I think it’s a good step forward. … I think it deserves respect by the courts, to give the [Department of Natural Resources and oil and gas companies] the opportunity to implement it on a reasonable basis.” Legacy lawsuits are so nicknamed because the alleged environmental damage often happened years or decades before the suits are filed. The new legislation says DNR should have a chance to create a cleanup plan before a trial for possible damages; the industry hopes having a plan detailing cleanup costs available to a jury will make them less likely to call for a huge award. Martin cautions that it can be hard to predict how the courts will interpret the language of a statute. He says there’s often hostility toward oil and gas companies from landowners who don’t own the mineral rights below their land. Martin spoke today at the Gulf States Energy Retreat, hosted by the LSU Center for Energy Studies, which wraps up Thursday. —David Jacobs