In 2003, the Louisiana Supreme Court rendered its landmark decision in
Corbello, et al. v. Iowa Production, et al. Since then, Louisiana courts have seen a steady stream of “legacy litigation” claims being filed. Legacy litigation claims generally concern alleged contamination arising from historic oil and gas operations under theories of both breach of contract and tort. Recently, those typical types of claims have been supplemented in some legacy litigation cases with citizen suit allegations based on the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act.
The Louisiana Environmental Quality Act, Louisiana Revised Statute §§ 30:2001
et seq., was originally enacted as the Louisiana Environmental Affairs Act which became effective on January 1, 1980. In 1983, the Louisiana Legislature created the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and renamed the Louisiana Environmental Affairs Act as the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act. The purpose of the Louisiana Environmental