Oilfield Equipment: Abandoned Offshore Platform; Tort Liability Outer Continental Shelf: Maritime Law; State Law Navigation

摘要

Leon Giorgio and others aboard the JO-LE were pleasure fishing in Breton Sound one moonlit night when the vessel abruptly allided with a set of pilings adjacent to an unlit orphaned production platform. Several crew members are seriously injured, and the JO-LE sinks and is declared a total loss. The platform is located on Louisiana State Lease 8342, a lease that expired and which had been formally released back to the State by the lessee. The site was declared orphaned under Louisiana's Oilfield Site Restoration Law, but at the time of the crash it was not yet determined to be out of compliance with applicable regulations. Giorgio et al. file suit against the former lessees and the State of Louisiana. The claims against the former lessees are settled prior to trial, and the case proceeds to trial against the State. The district court holds that the State is responsible for the platform as a result of the release of the lease and the declaration of the site as orphaned.