Taylor Energy Company Announces Settlement Of Waterkeepers Litigation
Company to hold public forum, publish website on model response effort
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Energy Company LLC (TEC) announced today that it has executed a settlement with a group of plaintiffs led by the Waterkeeper Alliance in the lawsuit Apalachicola Riverkeeper, et al. v. Taylor Energy Company LLC. The lawsuit was seeking information about a hydrocarbon discharge at the site of TEC's platform located in the Mississippi Canyon Area, Block 20 (MC-20) of the Gulf of Mexico, which was toppled by an unforeseen, unprecedented sea floor collapse that occurred during Hurricane Ivan. Both parties worked diligently and resolved all the issues in the lawsuit cooperatively, without further litigation or admission of liability.
As part of the agreement, TEC will host a public forum and publish a website to share information on the company's model response to the event. TEC will also donate $300,000 to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) to purchase hard assets, such as vessels, outboard motors, and electronics that will better position Louisiana research entities to compete for BP funded Restore Act grants, as a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP). Furthermore, TEC will fund an additional SEP in the amount of $100,000.
"We are very proud of our response effort, and this settlement gives us an opportunity to share that story," said Will Pecue, President of TEC. "We are pleased to have found common ground with Waterkeepers. The agreement balances the public's right to information with adequate safeguards for Taylor's proprietary technology."
In September 2004, Hurricane Ivan — the 10th most intense Atlantic hurricane ever, measuring the size of Texas at its peak — plowed across the Gulf of Mexico leaving catastrophic damage in its wake. As the storm passed, an unforeseen and unprecedented sea floor collapse and resulting sediment flow toppled TEC's MC-20A Platform.
For nearly a decade, TEC has performed response actions, decommissioning efforts, and potential impact analyses at the direction of the Unified Command, which is comprised of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and TEC. As the responsible party, TEC has underwritten all of the costs of the MC-20 response.
Pecue said, "We remain concerned and vigilant in response to the unprecedented and unforeseen MC-20 event. That is why for many years, Taylor Energy Company has been working hand in glove with federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, to develop and implement a response plan. Having done everything possible to address this event, we are committed to continuing to work with Unified Command in any necessary response efforts."
Throughout the response, TEC funded research and development of novel and innovative processes and technologies to increase the country's response capabilities to offshore incidents. This research has and will continue to serve the Gulf of Mexico, industry, and federal regulators for years to come.
"Taylor's effort is the gold standard for responding to offshore events involving the discharge of hydrocarbons. Its commitment to working cooperatively with government regulators and agencies yielded an efficient and effective response," said Wade Bryant, Senior Environmental Scientist, CK Associates Environmental Consultants.
A series of technical workshops over the course of several years formed a consensus among the Unified Command, state and local agencies, and leading experts that further well interventions at MC-20 would cause more environmental harm than good.
At the direction of Unified Command, TEC is conducting daily flights to monitor the area and is in the process of developing a new subsea containment dome.
In the coming months, TEC will release data, host a public forum, and publish a website to highlight the years of scientific study and technical analysis underlying these conclusions. It will also show the comprehensive plan in place for ongoing monitoring and response. The public will be notified via press release at least two weeks before the public forum.
Within the next two days, TEC and Waterkeepers will send a joint Petition to the federal government regarding public participation and disclosure related to the events at MC-20. If the federal government denies the Petition, or fails to favorably respond to the Petition within 45 days of submission, TEC and Waterkeepers will fully dismiss the litigation without government intervention.
"The Petition is essentially a formal invitation for the federal government to participate in this process. Even if the government decides not to participate, Taylor and Waterkeepers will still proceed with the terms of the settlement agreement," said Michael Beatty, an attorney for TEC.
SOURCE Taylor Energy Company LLC
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