Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area Protected from Industrial Development, Lawsuit Alleges

Healthy Gulf filed a lawsuit in the 19^th judicial district court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge alleging state agencies are acting outside their authority when they approved Air Products Blue Energy’s plan to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline through the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area. Healthy Gulf is represented by Earthjustice.

The group alleges that when the State of Louisiana accepted the donations of tracts of land from private donors, it entered agreements that include binding language prioritizing land conservation in its natural state and prohibiting the use or development of the land for any commercial activity — such as building a CO₂ pipeline. Instead (the suit alleges), the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ (LDWF) and other state agencies acted outside their legal authority by allowing a private company to gain access to what should be a natural resource for all citizens of Louisiana.

“Lake Maurepas is a valuable natural resource and the state recognized that when it promised the donors of the land it would preserve and protect it,” says Lauren Godshall, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “The state’s approval of this pipeline flies in the face of why this land was set aside for wildlife management, conservation, and preservation and undermines the state’s credibility.”

“This land was meant to be preserved for the enjoyment by citizens of Louisiana, including for recreation. There are laws that protect it from being developed for industrial purposes — like a carbon dioxide pipeline,” says Rodrigo Cantu, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “This plan to place a CO₂ pipeline here is not only a bad idea; it violates the state’s own contracts.”

The pipeline will originate in Ascension Parish, LA, on the Mississippi River, at the site of a proposed “blue” ammonia and “blue” hydrogen facility, which would utilize fossil fuels for carbon capture. The pipeline will carry captured carbon dioxide through the protected Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area into a proposed carbon storage facility proposed under Lake Maurepas. The state has given a private company a shortcut through public lands.

“The Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area is protected for a reason — it’s a vital refuge for Louisiana’s wildlife and a cornerstone of our conservation efforts,” said Andrew Whitehurst, Water Program Director at Healthy Gulf. “Allowing a carbon waste pipeline to cut through these lands not only violates the law but undermines the mission of the LDWF to protect, not exploit, state lands. Healthy Gulf is asking the court to hold state agencies accountable to their duty to safeguard our natural heritage, not sacrifice it for industrial projects that threaten its future.”

Background:

In 2001, 2008, and 2011, the state acquired several tracts of land for the benefit of creating this Lake Maurepas Wildlife Management Area. These wetlands and swamps surround the western border of one of the most pristine and heavily used natural resources near New Orleans, Lake Maurepas. Because these lands were of such a high ecological value, the use of the lands was restricted to ensure natural protection and conservation. The state even received federal funds to ensure that these lands would be protected from development. But in 2021, state agencies entered into a carbon dioxide storage agreement with Air Products, which included development of a pipeline that would destroy and permanently scar the wildlife management area. In 2024, the LDWF then separately provided Air Products a letter approving the pipeline development over the land that is to be protected. While LDWF’s approval of the pipeline was premised on state law providing that the state may lease lands for the purpose of storage of carbon dioxide, the wildlife management area is specifically governed by a separate law prohibiting the breach of any term or condition of any donation which has been accepted by the state for wildlife management. Thus, this action is both beyond the states’ legal authority and in violation of state law.