St. Bernard Parish Government v. United States

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The United States asked the Court of Federal Claims to certify for interlocutory appeal the court’s May 2015 opinion holding the U.S. liable for a temporary taking caused by flooding during Hurricane Katrina and subsequent storms. The United States said that an immediate appeal was appropriate because the opinion presented “controlling” questions of law about which there were substantial grounds for a difference in opinion. The U.S. also said that certification would advance the ultimate termination of the appeal because it could “obviate the need for further proceedings” if the U.S. prevailed or, if the liability opinion were affirmed, might “resolve or clarify disputes … concerning just compensation.” The plaintiffs opposed certification.

A United States Court of Federal Claims held that the federal government was liable for a temporary taking caused by certain flooding during Hurricane Katrina and subsequent storms. The court found that the plaintiffs, who were property owners in St. Bernard Parish or the Lower Ninth Ward of the City of New Orleans, had established that the flooding of their properties was caused by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ construction, expansions, operation, and failure to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO), a 76-mile-long navigational channel. One federal government argument rejected by the court was that the flooding was caused, not by MR-GO, but by subsidence, sea level rise, and land loss. With respect to this issue, the court said: “Although subsidence, sea level rise, and land loss took their toll on the region, the evidence in this case demonstrates that the MR-GO had the principal causal role in creating the environmental damage ….” Sabin Center Fellow Jennifer Klein <a href="http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2015/05/11/government-found-liable-for-hurricane-katrina-flooding/">wrote</a> about this case in May 2015.