Bd. of Comm'rs of the Se. La. Flood Prot. Authority—E. v. Tenn. Gas Pipeline Co.

850 F.3d 714

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF the SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA FLOOD PROTECTION AUTHORITY—EAST; Orleans Levee District; Lake Borgne Basin Levee District; East Jefferson Levee District, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.TENNESSEE GAS PIPELINE COMPANY, L.L.C.; Alta Mesa Services, L.P.; Anadarko E&P Onshore, L.L.C.; Apache Corporation; Atlantic Richfield Company; BEPCO, L.P.; Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, L.P.; BOPCO, L.P.; BP America Production Company; BP Oil Pipeline Company; Callon Offshore Production, Incorporated ; Callon Petroleum Company; Caskids Operating Company ; Centerpoint Energy Resources Corporation; Chevron Pipeline Company; Chevron USA, Incorporated; Clayton Williams Energy, Incorporated; Clovelly Oil Company, L.L.C. ; Coastal Exploration and Production, L.L.C.; Collins Pipeline Company; ConocoPhillips Company; Continental Oil Company; Cox Operating, L.L.C. ; Crawford Hughes Operating Company; Dallas Exploration, Incorporated ; Davis Oil Company; Devon Energy Production Company, L.P.; Energen Resources Corporation; Enterprise Intrastate, L.L.C. ; EOG Resources, Incorporated; EP Energy Management, L.L.C.; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company; Flash Gas & Oil Northeast, Incorporated ; Graham Royalty, Limited ; Greka Am, Incorporated; Gulf Production Company, Incorporated; Gulf South Pipeline Company, L.P.; Helis Energy, L.L.C.; Helis Oil & Gas Company, L.L.C.; Hess Corporation, a Delaware Corporation; Hilliard Oil & Gas, Incorporated; HKN, Incorporated; Integrated Exploration & Production, L.L.C.; J.C. Trahan Drilling Contractor, Incorporated; J.M. Huber Corporation; Kenmore Oil Company, Incorporated; Kewanee Industries, Incorporated; Koch Exploration Company, L.L.C.; Koch Industries, Incorporated; Liberty Oil; Gas Corporation; LLOG Exploration Company ; Manti Operating Company; Marathon Oil Company; Moem Pipeline, L.L.C. ; Mosbacher Energy Company; Natural Resources Corporation of Texas; Newfield Exploration Gulf Coast, L.L.C. ; Noble Energy, Incorporated; O'Meara, L.L.C. ; P. R. Rutherford; Placid Oil Company ; Plains Pipeline, L.P.; Republic Mineral Corporation ; Ripco, L.L.C. ; Rozel Operating Company; Murphy Exploration & Production Company, USA; Shell Oil Company; Southern Natural Gas Company, L.L.C. ; Sun Oil Company; Sundown Energy, L.P.; Union Oil Company of California; Whiting Oil & Gas Corporation; Williams Exploration Company ; Yuma Exploration and Production Company, Incorporated; Meridian Resource & Exploration, L.L.C. ; Pickens Company, Incorporated; Estate of William G. Helis; Louisiana Land and Exploration Company, L.L.C. Maryland; Kaiser-Francis Oil Company; BP Pipelines North America, Incorporated; Vintage Petroleum, L.L.C., Delaware; EnLink LIG, L.L.C., Defendants–Appellees.

No. 15-30162

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Filed March 3, 2017

James Richard Swanson, Attorney, Benjamin Dox Reichard, Fishman Haygood, L.L.P., Harvey Sylvanous Bartlett, III, Emma Elizabeth Daschbach, Esq., Eberhard Darrow Garrison, Kevin E. Huddell, Gladstone Nathaniel Jones, III, Esq., Attorney, Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, Bernard Edward Boudreaux, Jr., Esq., Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, L.L.C., Baton Rouge, LA, Joseph Rock Palermo, III, J. Michael Veron, Alonzo P. Wilson, Attorney, Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson, L.L.C., Lake Charles, LA, for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

Ewell Elton Eagan, Jr., Esq., Terrence Kent Knister, James Douglas Rhorer, Esq., John Y. Pearce, Edward Louis Fenasci, Esq., Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC, Francis V. Liantonio, Jr., Glen Marion Pilie, Esq., Jeffrey Edward Richardson, Adams & Reese, L.L.P., Leigh Ann Schell, Kuchler, Polk, Schell, Weiner & Richeson, L.L.C., Joe B. Norman, Esq., Robert Beattie McNeal, Esq., Jonathan Andrew Hunter, Elizabeth S. Wheeler, Esq., Russell Keith Jarrett, Esq., Attorney, Kelly Brechtel Becker, Esq., Liskow & Lewis, P.L.C., Loulan J. Pitre, Jr., Esq., Aimee Williams Hebert, Esq., Jane Allison Jackson, Kelly, Hart & Hallman, L.L.P., Brett Patrick Fenasci, Tyler Ann Moore Kostal, Esq., Richard Stuart Pabst, Esq., Michael Raudon Phillips, Esq., Bradley Joseph Schlotterer, Dylan T. Thriffiley, Kean Miller, L.L.P., Kyle D. Schonekas, William P. Gibbens, Esq., Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin, L.L.C., M. Taylor Darden, Esq., Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux, L.L.C., Todd Gregory Crawford, Esq., Fowler Rodriguez, John Steven Garner, Esq., Scialdone Law Firm, P.L.L.C., Nancy Scott Degan, Esq., Kerry J. Miller, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C., Etienne C. Lapeyre, F. Henri Lapeyre, Jr., Lapeyre & Lapeyre, L.L.P., Emile Joseph Dreuil, III, Esq., David Stephen Landry, Esq., Gerald F. Slattery, Jr., Esq., Slattery, Marino & Roberts, P.L.C., Isaac H. Ryan, Deutsch Kerrigan, L.L.P., Carl David Rosenblum, Esq., Alida C. Hainkel, Esq., Lauren Courtney Mastio, Jones Walker, L.L.P., Jonathan Robert Cook, Wall, Bullington & Cook, L.L.C., Beverly Klundt Baudouin, Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer, L.L.C., John Pratt Farnsworth, Barry W. Ashe, Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann, L.L.C., Mary Margaret Steele, Laura Caviness Cocus, Esq., Meghan Elizabeth Smith, Curry & Friend, P.L.C., New Orleans, LA, Lawrence Gene Acker, Van Ness Feldman, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Douglas C. Longman, Jr., Carmen Marie Rodriguez, Esq., Jones Walker, L.L.P., George Arceneaux, III, Liskow & Lewis, Robert Michael Kallam, Esq., Jennifer Anne Wells, Esq., Preis, P.L.C., Stephen D. Baker, Esq., Law Office of Stephen D. Baker, Paul J. Hebert, Ottinger Hebert, L.L.C., Brandon Wade Letulier, Cliff A. LaCour, Ben Louis Mayeaux, Francis X. Neuner, Jr., NeunerPate, Daniel C. Hughes, Daniel Hughes, A.P.L.C., Lafayette, LA, Matthew T. Heartney, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, Nancy Gordon Milburn, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, L.L.P., New York, NY, Leonard Louis Kilgore, III, Esq., Esteban Herrera, Jr., Esq., Mark Andrew Marionneaux, Richard Dean McConnell, Victor Jacob Suane, Jr., Louis Victor Gregoire, Jr., Esq., Pamela Roman Mascari, Charles Simon McCowan, III, Esq., Kean Miller, L.L.P., Edward Daniel Hughes, John Michael Parker, I, Esq., Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, L.L.P., William D. Lampton, William Thomas McCall, Jr., Jones Walker, L.L.P., Steven Jay Levine, John Bechtold Shortess, Kevin William Welsh, Attorney, Phelps Dunbar, L.L.P., John Powers Wolff, III, Nancy B. Gilbert, Esq., Richard W. Wolff, Keogh, Cox & Wilson, Limited, Baton Rouge, LA, Morgan Joseph Wells, Jr., Esq., Trial Attorney, Evan J. Godofsky, Larzelere Picou Wells Simpson Lonero, L.L.C., Metairie, LA, George T. Shipley, Amy Louise Snell, Shipley Snell Montgomery, L.L.P., Jeremiah Johnson Anderson, Robert Ellison Meadows, Esq., King & Spalding, L.L.P., James Joseph Ormiston, Michael Antoine Ackal, III, Gray Reed & McGraw LLP, Joshua A. Norris, Esq., Jones Walker, L.L.P., Michael M. Hendryx, Jason Christopher McLaurin, Strong Pipkin Bissell & Ledyard, L.L.P., Houston, TX, Ashley Charles Parrish, Esq., King & Spalding, L.L.P., Michael J. Lyle, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, L.L.P., Washington, DC, John Anthony Scialdone, Esq., Scialdone Law Firm, P.L.L.C., Todd Gregory Crawford, Esq., John Steven Garner, Esq., Michael James Thompson, Jr., Fowler Rodriguez Valdes—Fauli, Gulfport, MS, Angela M. Spivey, McGuireWoods, L.L.P., Atlanta, GA, Richard Trent Taylor, Esq., Attorney, McGuireWoods, L.L.P., Richmond, VA, David William Rusch, Mandeville, LA, James Thomas Guglielmo, Esq., Guglielmo, Lopez, Tuttle, Hunter & Jarrell, Opelousas, LA, Stephen Christopher Fortson, Anna W. O'Neal, Bradley, Murchison, Kelly & Shea, L.L.C., Shreveport, LA, for Defendants–Appellees.

Evan A. Young, Attorney, Baker Botts, L.L.P., Austin, TX, for Amicus Curiae.

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and OWEN and COSTA, Circuit Judges.

PRISCILLA R. OWEN, Circuit Judge:

The Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority–East filed a lawsuit in Louisiana state court against various companies involved in the exploration for and production of oil reserves off the southern coast of the United States. The Board alleged that Defendants' exploration activities caused infrastructural and ecological damage to coastal lands overseen by the Board that increased the risk of flooding due to storm surges and necessitated costly flood protection measures. Defendants removed the case to federal court, and the district court denied the Board's motion to remand, on the ground that the Board's claims necessarily raise a federal issue. Defendants also moved to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, and the district court granted the motion. We affirm.

I

In July 2013, the Board of Commissioners of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority–East (the Board) filed a lawsuit in Louisiana state court against ninety-seven entities (the Defendants) involved in the exploration for and production of oil reserves off the southern coast of the United States. The Board, whose purpose is "regional coordination of flood protection,"¹ alleges that since the 1930s, coastal landscapes that serve as a "first line of defense" against flooding (the Buffer Zone) have been suffering from rapid land loss. The Board alleges that replacement of land in the Buffer Zone with water threatens the existing levee system and imperils coastal communities. It further asserts that Defendants' oil and gas activities—primarily the dredging of an extensive network of canals to facilitate access to oil and gas wells—has caused "direct land loss and increased erosion and submergence in the Buffer Zone, resulting in increased storm surge risk." Attached to the complaint was a list of Defendants' names, agents, and addresses; a map depicting the levee districts under the Board's purview; a list of the names and location information of wells operated by Defendants; a list of the locations in the...