Lawyers: BP claims at risk if Jindal signs levee lawsuit bill ~Richard Thompson

St. Tammany leaders approve court fight against fracking ~Ashley Rodrigue, WWLTV

Sheriff Gusman eyes plan to move mentally ill inmates to St. Gabriel, nearly 50 miles away ~Jim Mustian, New Orleans Advocate

2014 hurricane season message: Despite upgraded levees, don't let your guard down ~Mark Schleifstein

DEQ sends hurricane resource manual to parishes ~AP

AG recommends veto for levee board lawsuits bill ~New Orleans Advocate
~ Caldwell wrote Jindal that the bill’s wording carries “the potential for an unintended effect on the state’s, or a local governmental entity’s, claims against BP related to the Deepwater Horizon incident.” But Jindal’s top legal adviser disagreed, saying the views expressed during a Wednesday morning meeting were “the same as those offered by the opponents of the bill.” Thomas L. Enright Jr., the governor’s executive counsel, wrote Caldwell on Wednesday, “I must respectfully disagree that the proper course of action is to veto the bill.”

~Letter contradicting Thomas Enright, Governorcist Jindal’s executive counsel, from Robert R.M. Verchick Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law, Loyola College of Law

Dear Mr. Enright,

I have obtained a copy of your letter of June 4, 2014, addressed to Attorney General James D. Caldwell, which you furnished to the media. While I understand your position, I find your reasoning unpersuasive and, in some cases, based on inaccurate facts.

First, you write that the reasons set forth by the Attorney General for vetoing SB469 lack “specificity” as to the bill’s “unintended consequences.” To that end, I direct your attention to the legal analysis provided by my colleagues and me and encourage you to review our memorandum. That document —seven pages long and signed by more than 20 legal professors and scholars from the most prestigious law schools across the country, including our very own Loyola, Tulane and LSU law schools—reports in stark and detailed language the many ways that SB469 threatens billions of dollars worth of claims related to the BP oil spill. I’m frankly baffled at how such consequences could go ignored in the Governor’s rush to sign this bill into law. For that reason, I include a copy of our full analysis for you to review. In addition to the reasons outlined in that document, we are now also concerned, as you no doubt know, that NOAA has expressed serious questions about SB469, which could result in the loss of federal funding to protect our coast. Federal approval of the bill was never obtained as is required by federal law or even sought as of yesterday, June 3, 2014. In addition, the weakening of parish authority to protect their coastlines could lead NOAA to rescind the state’s coastal management program, depriving the state of needed federal revenue.

Second, you say, “this piece of legislation was fully debated, was the subject of intense mediacoverage throughout the session and now represents the Louisiana Legislature’s intent.” But SB469 was not fully debated. As you know, in the legislative process, discussion by the public can only take place in committee hearings. The bill was first assigned to Senate Committee Judiciary A, where it was clear the bill would have failed. When the author of the bill learned of its obvious fate, the bill was hastily moved, rewritten, and then heard in Senate Natural Resources Committee less than 18 hours later. There was next to no public notice, and debate on the bill was thus cut short. Furthermore, when the bill moved to the House of Representatives, it was assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee, instead of the Civil Law Committee where legislators skilled and experienced in the issues presented by SB469 could have addressed same. Worse, Representative Gordon Dove, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee cut off debate.

Regardless, and contrary to the suggestion, neither legislative debate – nor media coverage – can substitute for thorough legal analysis by experts in the field. SB469 has been subject to just such an analysis, and under that analysis SB469 fails. As our analysis shows, SB469 fails to protect the local governments whose concerns your letter concedes are at issue and puts at risk billions of dollars of local government claims against BP. And, here, it should be noted that BP heavily lobbied for the passage of SB469 – a fact strongly suggesting that the now known consequences of SB469 were not unintended at all. The bill may even fail to achieve its original goal— termination of the SLFPAE’s lawsuit. The bill says it applies only to "local government entities," a term with a specific legal meaning that does not include regional flood protection authorities or the levee districts that make up SLFPAE. And, in the one place SB469 does mention regional flood protection authorities, the bill fails to include levee districts. The
SLFPAE lawsuit is filed on behalf of the East Jefferson Levee District, the Orleans Levee District, and the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District as entities distinct from SLFPAE itself. So those levee districts' claims in the SLFPAE lawsuit could well remain untouched. In sum, SB469 fails in every regard.

Sincerely,

Robert R.M. Verchick
Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law
Loyola College of Law 
 
New Orleans City Council asks Gov. Jindal to veto levee board lawsuit bill ~Richard Rainey

Right and left partnered in fight to reduce incarceration, but sheriffs killed most bills ~Tyler Bridges, The Lens

Lower 9th Ward revitalization plan to go before voters ~Marsha Schuler, New Orleans Advocate

Third District police officers encouraged to make more bicycle stops ~Della Hassell, Midtown Messenger

Update: Lafourche Parish declares state of emergency after levee breach ~WDSU

More details on Jindal’s “Duck Dynasty” appearance ~The Advocate

Murky outlook on oyster beds this year means high prices ~Meg Farris, WWLTV 

French Market’s Annual Creole Tomato Festival, 2014 ~WWOZ

Gov. Jindal delays signing law against levee lawsuit ~New Orleans Advocate

Plan to create special taxing district in New Orleans dies on last day in Legislature ~Tyler Bridges, The Lens

Jindal department rampant with fraud and corruption ~C.B. Forgotston

New Orleans USCG prepares for hurricane season ~WVUE

Ascension Parish residents upset at response to ‘perfect storm’ floods ~The Advocate

Portable generators demand safety during the hurricane season ~WWL

Impact of signing retroactive anti-levee authority lawsuit bill questioned ~ WWLTV

Louisiana's regulation and inspection of oil and gas wells, including 'orphaned' wells, is inadequate, Legislative Auditor finds ~Mark Schleifstein

Anti-fracking fight in Texas draws St. Tammany interest ~Faimon A. Roberts III

St. Bernard gets oyster reef to help protect shoreline ~Amy Wold, The Advocate

What To Do With Bayou Bienvenue?: Amanda Moore ~WWNO

LSU researchers study storm surge data with hopes of minimizing hurricane damage ~David Lippman

The View from Inside the Eye ~National Hurricane Center Blog

New Orleans nearing a ‘privatized’ public school system ~Kari Dequine Harden, Louisiana Weekly

Businesses grow as Hollywood embraces Louisiana ~Stacie Plaisance, AP via WVUE

Hurricane season begins; eight years without a major storm ~Amy Wold, The Advocate

Anti-Levee Board bill SB 469 could have disastrous impact on local governments with pending BP spill claims ~Louisiana Voice

Court monitor says Gusman is behind schedule on jail reforms ~Charles Maldonado, The Lens

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