The U.S. Supreme Court decided in an 8-0 decision that the Plaquemines Parish lawsuit against Chevron — alleging the company damaged wetlands from oil and gas production — can move to federal court, where Chevron can except a more favorable outcome.  

This decision sets a precent that will affect the more than 40 lawsuits in Louisiana against oil and gas businesses if the defendants can demonstrate a close relationship with the federal government while acting as a federal contractor. 

“The underlying case revolves around efforts by Plaquemines Parish to force Chevron to accept liability for, and bear the cost of correcting, environmental damage caused by oil extraction itself and the activities associated with extraction,” Thomas Oatley, Tulane University Corasaniti-Zondorak chair of international relations, said.  

Chevron argued that, because the lawsuit dealt with oil production in Louisiana dating back to World War II, when the company refined fuel for the military, the case should be held in federal court. 

The ruling puts the $745 million state-court verdict against Chevron from April 2025 in limbo.  

Devin Lowell, clinical assistant professor of law at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, said the case will be re-tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.  

 “The most clear effect of the decision is delay,” Lowell said. “Those proceedings will take time and be fiercely contested. So even assuming a similar verdict, which is not certain, it will take that much longer to recover that money from Chevron, which will eventually help fund restoration of our coast.”