Sandra Duhon Bernard v. Bp America Production Company

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT CW 07-1249

SANDRA DUHON BERNARD, ET AL.

VERSUS BP AMERICA PRODUCTION COMPANY, ET AL.

************ ON SUPERVISORY WRITS FROM THE THIRTY-EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF CAMERON, DOCKET NO. 10-16704 HONORABLE H. WARD FONTENOT, DISTRICT JUDGE ************ JAMES T. GENOVESE JUDGE ************ Court composed of Marc T. Amy, J. David Painter, and James T. Genovese, Judges.

WRIT GRANTED, MADE PEREMPTORY, REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Donald T. Carmouche Victor L. Marcello John H. Carmouche William R. Coenen, III John S. DuPont, III Brian T. Carmouche Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello Post Office Box 759 Gonzales, Louisiana 70707-0759 (225) 644-7777 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RELATORS: Sandra Duhon Bernard, et al.

Chad E. Mudd Mudd & Bruchhaus, L.L.C. East College Street Lake Charles, Louisiana 70605 (337) 562-2327 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RELATORS: Sandra Duhon Bernard, et al.

H. David Vaughan, II Ellen B. Cogswell Plauché, Smith & Nieset 1123 Pithon Street Lake Charles, Louisiana 70601 (337) 436-0522 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS/RELATORS: Sandra Duhon Bernard, et al.

Patrick S. Ottinger Paul J. Hebert Mark D. Sikes Stuart M. Simoneaud Ottinger Hebert, L.L.C. Post Office Drawer 52606 Lafayette, Louisiana 70505-2606 (337) 232-2606 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT: KCS Resources, Inc. George Arceneaux, III Liskow & Lewis Harding Street Post Office Box 52008 Lafayette, Louisiana 70505 (337) 232-7424 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS: Midgard Energy Company, and Range Production Company of Delaware John Michael Vernon Jere Jay Bice Bice, Palermo & Vernon Post Office Box 2125 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70602 (337) 310-1600 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS: BP America Production Company, BP Corporation North America, Inc., and Pan American Petroleum Corporation Robert J. Burns, Jr. Perry, Atkinson, Balhoff, Mengis & Burns, L.L.C. Post Office Drawer 83260 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70884-3260 (225) 767-7730 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: Petroleum Resource Management Co., and CTO Investments A. J. Gray, III Bart R. Yakupzack The Gray Law Firm Post Office Box 1467 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70602-1467 (337) 494-0694 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS: River Oaks Exploration, Inc., Jack Lawton, Inc., William B. Lawton Company, Inc., Raville Resources, Inc., Yentzen Investments, Inc., and William T. Burton Industries, Inc. Michael J. Mazzone Haynes & Boone, L.L.P. One Houston Center 1221 McKinney Street, Suite 2100 Houston, Texas 77010-2007 (713) 547-2115 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: Nortex Corporation Charles A. Mouton Mahtook & Lafleur Post Office Box 3089 Lafayette, Louisiana 70502 (337) 266-2189 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: Sunoco Brett Page Furr Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, L.L.P. Post Office Drawer 2471 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-2471 (225) 387-3221 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT: KERRCO, Inc. GENOVESE, J.

Plaintiffs-Relators, Sandra Duhon Bernard, et al., have sought supervisory writs, challenging the trial court’s ruling in this oilfield contamination case requiring that liability issues be tried first, followed by proceedings before the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR), with the trial of claims for damages in excess of the plan resulting from the LDNR process to be held after that process has concluded. The issues herein involve the interpretation of La.R.S. 30:29, as enacted by 2006 La. Acts No. 312, § 1 of the Louisiana legislature. Based on this court’s recent ruling in John L. Germany, et al. v. ConocoPhillips Co., et al., 07-1145 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/5/08), ___ So.2d ___, and Duplantier Family Partnership v. BP Amoco, 07-293 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/16/07), 955 So.2d 763, writs denied, 07-1241, 07- 1265, 07-1271 (La. 9/28/07), 964 So.2d 367, 368, we grant this writ, make it peremptory, and reverse the trial court ruling. We remand this case to the trial court for a single trial to the fact finder of all issues before the case is referred to the LDNR.

WRIT GRANTED, MADE PEREMPTORY, REVERSED AND REMANDED.