Ethics charge alleged in oilfield cleanup dispute

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A New Orleans lawmaker was accused Thursday of ethics violations because of legislation he’s pushing in a long-running dispute between oil and gas companies and private landowners about environmental contamination.

The complaint filed against Democratic Rep. Neil Abramson accuses the lawmaker of seeking law changes that would benefit his legal firm, which represents several oil and gas companies.

Attorney Don Carmouche, who represents landowners suing the energy firms over environmental damage from drilling years ago, said he lodged the conflict of interest complaint with the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program.

Carmouche claims Abramson is violating a law that prohibits lawmakers from participating in transactions from which the lawmaker or his employer has a “substantial economic interest.”

Abramson is chairman of the House civil law committee, which earlier this week backed a proposal by Abramson that would rework how so-called “legacy lawsuits” are handled, in a manner sought by the oil and gas industry, which claims the lawsuits are stifling exploration in Louisiana.

“Abramson’s proposed legislation directly benefits both himself as well as his employer, Liskow & Lewis, as it further increases the hurdles landowners must overcome to get their land restored,” Carmouche wrote in his complaint.

Abramson has called the allegations absurd, saying it was an attempt to intimidate him and get him to scrap his legislation. He noted that veterans bring bills that will affect other veterans and that pharmacists have sponsored pharmacy bills.

“I will not be intimidated or bullied by self-serving, organized opponents to this legislation,” the lawmaker said in a statement Thursday. He added, “I am not compromised in the slightest … If my critics were correct, no attorney could vote on any matter as a legislator as the legal experiences touch every bill in some way.”

He said his proposal will require oil and gas companies to admit responsibility for contamination and to immediately start the clean-up, while other damages claims can be pursued in the courts. He suggested the ethics complaint was being pushed by trial lawyers who worry his bill could cut into their profits.

Legacy lawsuits, often totaling millions of dollars, are filed by landowners who leased their property to energy companies and claim environmental damage for the drilling on their land, like contamination of ground water resources.

Abramson’s bill would allow any cleanup plan devised by the Department of Natural Resources to be admissible as evidence in a lawsuit for a larger damage claim, a move sought by the oil and gas industry. Landowners and their lawyers oppose the requirement, saying the industry has too heavy an influence over DNR and could pressure them in the cleanup estimates that would then be reviewed by a judge or jury to determine damages.

Carmouche said the legal changes pushed by Abramson would result in smaller damage awards for landowners, “thereby benefiting the oil companies.”

The president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Don Briggs, criticized the ethics complaint against Abramson as a lame attempt by trial lawyers who represent the landowners to draw attention away from the job losses caused by the lawsuits.

Original Article