Residents, businesses could seek damages after Lafourche oil spill

Cleanup efforts continue on the Bayou Lafourche after an oil spill near Raceland over the weekend, and whoever is responsible for that oil spill could be forced to pay out millions of dollars in settlements.

All Things Legal host Doug Sunseri says the person or entity that caused the spill could face lawsuits from residents, businesses, and local governments along the bayou.

"They can be liable for a myriad of possible claims," Sunseri said. "This is a pretty wide swath of liability and a wide variance of potential damages. This is serious."

Sunseri says the claims would be similar to those from the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

"They would be able to collect any damages possible to their health, any damages possible to their compromised personal property, any damages due to the infiltration into the water system, damages for loss of business, damages for depreciated value of their property," Sunseri said, listing possible reasons why someone could sue the person or company who caused the spill. "What they're basically going to do is they're going to have it cleaned up, and then they're going to do assessments. They're going to see what effects on your property (and) what effects does it have on your health? What potential effects does it have on your health?"

Sunseri says local governments may also be able to seek damages from the oil spill.

"How does this impair our daily operations, and how does that affect our infrastructure?" Sunseri said, noting the questions that local governments will ponder when seeking damages.