Jefferson Parish v. Chevron U.S.A. Holdings Inc. et al

Filing 73

ORDER granting 24 Motion to Remand to State Court. Signed by Judge Carl Barbier on 5/12/15. (sek)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
JEFFERSON PARISH

CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS

NO: 13-6738

CHEVRON U.S.A. HOLDINGS, INC.,
ET AL

SECTION: J(3)

ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion to Remand (Rec. Doc.
24), Defendants' Opposition (Rec. Doc. 37), and Plaintiff's Reply
(Rec. Doc. 42), as well as the supplemental briefing filed by the
parties (Rec. Docs. 68, 70). This lawsuit is one of many that
have been filed by Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes against
various

oil

and

gas

companies,

alleging

violations

of

the

Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act. All
of these lawsuits have been removed to this Court, and in each
lawsuit, Plaintiffs have filed a motion to remand. To date, a
number of these lawsuits have been remanded back to state court.
The Court finds persuasive the holdings and reasoning set
forth in Parish of Plaquemines v. Total Petrochemical & Refining
USA, Inc., No. 13-6693, 2014 WL 6750649 (E.D. La. Dec. 1, 2014)
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(Zainey, J); Plaquemines Parish v. Rozel Operating Co., No. 136722, 2015 WL 403791 (E.D. La. Jan. 29, 2015) (Africk, J.);
Jefferson Parish v. Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, No. 13-6701 (E.D.
La.

Mar.

9,

2015)

(Lemelle,

J.);

and

Plaquemines

Parish

v.

Hilcorp Energy Co., 13-6727, 2015 WL 1954640 (E.D. La. Apr. 29,
2015) (Feldman, J.).
The Court has also given particular consideration to whether
these opinions are correct regarding their finding of an absence
of OCSLA jurisdiction. The Court determines that the matter is
controlled by the test for OCSLA jurisdiction articulated in In
re Deepwater Horizon, 745 F.3d 157 (5th Cir. 2014):
Courts typically assess jurisdiction under [OCSLA] in
terms of whether (1) the activities that caused the
injury constituted an "operation" "conducted on the
Outer Continental Shelf" that involved the exploration
and production of minerals, and (2) the case "arises
out of, or in connection with" the operation.
Id.

at 163 (emphasis added). In this matter, the undisputed

evidence shows that the activities causing the complained of
injuries

were

conducted

on

land

as

opposed

to

on

the

Outer

Continental Shelf. It therefore reasons that OCSLA jurisdiction
does not apply.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is REMANDED to the
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state court from which it was removed due to a lack of subject
matter jurisdiction.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 12th day of May, 2015.

____________________________
CARL J. BARBIER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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