ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
F r i d ay, M a r c h 14, 2025
Oil company facing coastal damages suit Billions at stake in Plaquemines Parish courtroom
Wall Street tumbles 10% below its record
Uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs, trade war fuels decline
BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
A colossal Louisiana legal showdown began this week in a Plaquemines Parish courtroom, as attorney John Carmouche, who has led a statewide fight to make the energy industry pay for damage to coastal wetlands, squared off against oil companies in the first of more than three dozen landmark lawsuits to go to trial. The case, Plaquemines Parish v. Rozel, filed in 25th Judicial District Court, centers on claims that Texaco, an oil company now owned by Chevron, discharged pollutants into wetlands near Bayou Gentilly over more than half a century, and broke other state laws and permitting rules that led to land loss and other environmental issues. The company has said it complied with all applicable regulations. The trial has taken on outsize importance. If the parish prevails, the resulting damages and required coastal reconstruction would likely serve as a model for the 40 addition-
$2.00X
BY STAN CHOE Associated Press
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Attorney John Carmouche, center, walks to the Plaquemines Parish Courthouse in Pointe à la Hache on Tuesday. al lawsuits Carmouche has filed on behalf of Plaquemines and five other coastal parishes — which could reach into the billions of dollars. If the oil companies win, it could raise doubts about how other cases may fare in front of juries and make lower settlements — or no settlements — more likely. Carmouche’s team is asking for more than $3 billion in damages
from Chevron in the trial that’s now underway. Those funds would by law have to be used to restore the damaged area. Payouts to attorneys could be substantial as well. In opening statements Thursday, Carmouche argued before the jury of six men and six women that the oil company had knowingly caused
ä See SUIT, page 9A
A rusted oil pipeline in the Bayou Gentilly oil field has been abandoned, according to lawyers representing Plaquemines Parish in their lawsuit against oil and gas companies. STAFF FILE PHOTO By MATTHEW HINTON
NEW YORK — Wall Street’s sell-off hit a new low Thursday after President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war dragged the S&P 500 more than 10% below its record, which was set just last month. A 10% drop is a big enough deal that professional investors have a name for it — a “correction” — and the S&P 500’s 1.4% slide on Thursday sent the index to its first since 2023. The losses came after Trump upped the stakes in his trade war by threatening huge taxes on European wines and alcohol. ä Trump’s Not even a double shot of good policies have news on the U.S. economy could thrown G7 stop the bleeding. countries’ The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 537 points, or once solid 1.3% Thursday, and the Nasdaq unity into composite fell 2%. disarray. The dizzying, battering PAGE 4A swings for stocks have been ä A 10% coming not just day to day but drop for stocks also hour to hour, and the Dow hurtled between a slight gain isn’t that rare. and a drop of 689 points on PAGE 8A Thursday. The turbulence is a result of uncertainty about how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes. Trump’s latest escalation came Thursday when he threatened 200% tariffs on Champagne and other European wines, unless the European Union rolls back a “nasty” tariff announced on U.S. whiskey. The European Union unveiled that move on Wednesday, in response to U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminum. U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of all the uncertainty about which tariffs will stick from Trump’s barrage of on-again, off-again announcements. That’s raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy. Some U.S. businesses say they’ve already begun to see a change in their customers’ behavior because of the uncertainty. A particularly feared scenario for the economy
ä See TUMBLES, page 7A
Report details roof impacts
‘His death will not provide closure’
BY SAM KARLIN
BY JOHN SIMERMAN
The benefits of getting a fortified roof in south Louisiana — including lower insurance premiums and fewer hurricane losses — generally outweigh the cost of putting the roof on, according to a new study by state auditors. The report, released Monday by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, found most people who have taken advantage of a state grant program to install a stronger roof have seen insurance premiums drop. The median
It’s been nearly 30 years since a duck hunter found his wife Molly shot dead and naked on Thanksgiving Day by the Middle Pearl River. Andy Elliott says he isn’t sure now if he wants her killer, Jessie Hoffman Jr., to be executed on Tuesday, as the state has planned, or to die in prison. But the March 18 date that a St. Tammany Parish judge has set for Hoffman to become the first death row inmate to be executed in Louisiana by nitrogen gas has filled the family with dread, forced to reckon with their feelings under
media glare, Elliott wrote in a As inmate’s execution astatement late Wednesday. is something about knowday nears, victim’s ing“There it could actually finally happen husband torn that has forced all of us to relive the past tragedy and re-examine over process our true feelings,” Elliott wrote.
Fortified coverings can save Louisiana residents money
Staff writer
Staff writer
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BILL FEIG
A fortified roof in south Louisiana can mean fewer hurricane ä See ROOF, page 9A losses, according to a new study by state auditors.
WEATHER HIGH 84 LOW 69 PAGE 8B
Business ......................8A Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
“The reality is this: after this much time passing, I’ve become indifferent to the death penalty vs. life in prison without possibility of parole. However, I’m not indifferent to the uncertainty that has accompanied these many years. If putting him to death is the easiest way to end the uncertainty, then on balance I favor that solution. But, his death will not provide closure. “Anyone who has experienced a tragedy of this magnitude will recognize the absolute truth — Molly’s and my families and friends lost a great human being to a senseless series of crimes, the reasons for which we still don’t know. The
ä See CLOSURE, page 7A
100TH yEAR, NO. 257