LAKE CHARLES, La. (Legal Newsline) – The federal government and two Louisiana departments allege several oil and petrochemical manufacturers caused damage or loss of natural resources because of releases of hazardous substances.
The United States of America, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for the State of Louisiana filed a complaint on March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division against CITGO Petroleum Corp., Occidental Chemical Corp., OXY USA Inc. and PPG Industries Inc. citing the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege the defendants or their legal predecessors in interest disposed and discharged hazardous substances from their refining and/or petrochemical facilities in the Bayou d'Inde area of concern in Calsasieu Parish, Louisiana, causing injury or destruction to natural resources.
The plaintiffs seek reimbursement of the costs of removal incurred, enjoin the defendants to take appropriate action necessary to protect and restore injured natural resources, and grant such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. They are represented by Jeffery H. Wood and Kenneth G. Long of U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Lake Charles Division case number 2:18-cv-00402-UDJ-KK