In WMH Farms, LLC v. Apache Corporation (of Delaware), et al., the trial court granted a plaintiff landowner’s motion for summary judgment, finding that environmental damage existed on the plaintiff’s property for which defendant, JP Oil, was legally responsible.[1] JP Oil appealed, and over the plaintiff’s objection, the Third Circuit found the appeal procedurally proper and reversed the trial court’s judgment. The Louisiana Supreme Court then granted the plaintiff’s writ application to address whether such a partial summary judgment in a remediation action under La. R.S. 30:29 (“Act 312”) is immediately appealable. In a per curiam opinion, the Court held it was not. Instead, the only available avenue for interlocutory appellate review of a summary judgment finding the existence of environmental damage and a legally responsible party is via a timely supervisory writ application.
Act 312 establishes procedures for evaluating claims for environmental damage to immovable property, including the implementation of a plan to remediate such environmental damage (if found). Pursuant to Act 312, once environmental damage and a legally responsible party are found, the parties must submit proposed evaluation and/or remediation plans to the Department of Conservation and Energy (the “Department”). The Department is then charged with determining whether a proposed plan satisfies all statutory requirements. If the Department approves a plan, it must be filed with the court for consideration. Act 312 expressly provides: “Any judgment adopting a plan of evaluation or remediation … and ordering the party or parties…found legally responsible by the court to deposit funds from the implementation thereof into the registry of the court pursuant to this Section shall be considered a final judgment pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure Article 2081 et seq., for purposes of appeal.” La. R.S. 30:29(C)(6)(a).
Appellate jurisdiction extends only to final judgments. In this case, because the summary judgment resolved only some of the issues between the parties (i.e., that environmental damage existed and that defendant, JP Oil, was legally responsible), the Court held that it was only a partial final judgment. Partial final judgments are immediately appealable only if authorized by Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure art. 1915(A) (which did not apply) or at the time, if the judgment was certified under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure art. 1915(B) (which it was not).
Thus, the Court found that the Third Circuit lacked appellate jurisdiction, and the only avenue for interlocutory appellate review of a judgment finding environmental damage and a legally responsible party is through a timely filed application for supervisory review.
For more information, contact Liskow attorneys Kathryn Gonski and Hayley Landry.
[1] WMH Farms, LLC v. Apache Corp., 2026-00223 (La. 5/19/26)