Louisiana

In Guilbeau v. BEPCO, L.P., a landowner filed suit seeking remediation of contamination arising from oil and gas activities prior to his purchase of the property. The landowner previously had filed a suit seeking a clean-up based on the defendants’ obligations under the Louisiana Mineral Code. That earlier suit was dismissed based on the subsequent purchaser doctrine. The subsequent purchaser doctrine states that private claims for damages to property belong to the person who owned the property at the time of the damages and absent that person’s assignment of his claims to a subsequent purchaser of the property, the subsequent purchaser does not have a claim against the person who caused the damages.

In the current suit, the landowner seeks injunctive relief—in particular, an order requiring a remediation—in a citizen suit brought pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 30:14 and 30:16.