On January 31, 2007, a Louisiana district court in Cameron Parish set aside a jury verdict from two months earlier that awarded $57 Million for wetlands losses allegedly caused by decades of surface water discharges of produced water. In its January 31, 2007 Ruling of the Court in the Dore Energy, Corporation v. Carter-Langham, Inc., et al case, the court concluded that the landowner could not sue the sublessee under the mineral lease at issue because the sublessee had concluded its operations under that lease prior to the Louisiana Mineral Code becoming effective. The court found the landowner-plaintiff had no privity of contract with the sublessee-defendant. The court also found that Act 312 of the 2006 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature applied to the plaintiff’s claims, reversing an earlier procedural ruling in the case. Act 312 creates certain procedures in lawsuits involving claims of contamination resulting from activities associated with oilfield sites or exploration and production sites. The court ordered the case stayed and ordered that appropriate notices be given to the state of Louisiana as required by Act 312. Further developments in the case are likely.
