NEW ORLEANS, LA — July 9, 2015 — Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan dismissed Taylor Energy’s motion for summary judgment, allowing Waterkeeper Alliance’s lawsuit over a decade’s long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to go forward. Taylor Energy had argued that the case should be thrown out because the plaintiffs lacked standing. However, Judge Morgan rejected this argument and ruled that Waterkeeper Alliance, Apalachicola Riverkeeper, and Louisiana Environmental Action Network can prove at trial that their members in the Gulf region have standing on behalf of the organizations.
Ms. Larissa Liebmann, Staff Attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance, reacted today to the ruling: “We are very pleased that this case will continue to move forward, bringing us one step closer to finding a resolution to this ongoing spill. One very important aspect of the ruling is that Judge Morgan also rejected Taylor Energy’s insistence that it has done all it can do to address the spill. That means this case has the potential to resolve the dispute regarding whether Taylor can and should take further steps to stop the continued flow of oil into the Gulf. People who rely on the Gulf for water-dependent businesses, recreation, and tourism need clean water, not oil wells that may leak for over a century.”
Contact:
Tina Posterli, News Media Specialist, [email protected], 212.747.0622 ext. 113