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The decades-long struggle between Louisiana landowners and oil and gas companies over so-called “legacy” lawsuits is set to take another turn later this month when attorneys representing hundreds of landowners in the cases call on the author of a recent Louisiana State University study on the lawsuits to testify about the research under oath.

In a statement posted online earlier this week, Baton Rouge attorney Don Carmouche said he plans to question David Dismukes, associate director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies, about the funding and data behind his February study as a part of larger potential litigation. The deposition is set for March 29.

The study attributed the drop in conventional drilling activity in Louisiana in part to an uptick in the number of legacy lawsuits filed in the state. Legacy lawsuits allow landowners to sue oil companies to recover the costs of cleaning up after oil and gas activity.

Carmouche said in the statement that the research is “flawed, erroneous, and prejudiced.”

“Because of its outlandish claims, we want some questions answered by Dismukes and LSU on a number of issues,” Carmouche said.

The LSU study comes as oil and gas interests lobby for more controls on the suits, which they say are growing in number and award amounts and staunch drilling investment.

Dismukes estimates that legacy lawsuits in south Louisiana have led to a loss of about 1,200 new oil and gas wells, or about $6.8 billion in lost drilling investments, since 2004.

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources records show an average of 30 legacy suits have been filed per year over the past eight years, up from seven in 2003. The DNR, the state oil and gas regulator, started monitoring environmental remediation tied to legacy lawsuits in 2006.

Unlike other states, the legacy damage awards are not tied to the value of the property in Louisiana. Cases often involve several companies since land is typically traded and re-leased over the lifespan of mineral interests.

One proposal from industry lobbyists would allow oil and gas companies to admit responsibility for cleanup plans outlined by state regulators without having to admit to responsibility for additional private claims.

Landowners and their attorneys say today’s landowners are more clued into the environmental damage years of oil and gas work can do than previous generations were.

Carmouche and his firm, Talbot, Carmouche and Marcello, represent nearly half of the 270 legacy cases tracked by the state Department of Natural Resources.

Carmouche plans to question Dismukes on the timeliness of data used and the identities of people and entities paying for the research. The attorney will also ask for all communications between Dismukes and the oil industry and records of payments made to Dismukes for oil industry-related research.

“In all of our cases where hazardous pits have been left by the oil industry, we have discovered the only way to find the real truth is by demanding internal documents,” Carmouche said.

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