Residents of Bienville Parish and an environmental advocacy group have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn an oil and gas wastewater injection permit issued by the state, marking what is described as the first appeal of a Class 2 injection permit in Louisiana.
The suit was filed January 5 in the 19th Judicial District Court by citizens from Jamestown and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, or LEAN, challenging a permit granted to Brickyard Trucking LLC by the Louisiana Department of Conservation. The plaintiffs argue the agency failed to adequately consider cumulative environmental impacts, particularly risks to drinking water aquifers.
Brickyard Trucking received the permit on November 6 authorizing three injection wells that would pass through the Carrizo-Wilcox and Upland Terrace aquifers, part of the Sparta Aquifer system. According to the filing, the facility would accept wastewater delivered by as many as 192 tanker trucks per day, with the waste injected underground under high pressure.
The wastewater, commonly referred to as produced water or saltwater, contains toxic and radioactive materials but is exempt from regulation under federal hazardous waste law, the suit states. The injection site is located in a recharge zone for the Sparta aquifer system and near a major fault line, which plaintiffs say heightens concerns about groundwater contamination and seismic activity.
“The Dept. of Conservation is a public agency, and it needs to start taking the public seriously,” said Lois Smith of Jamestown, one of the named plaintiffs.
LEAN and four individual residents — Ralph Woodall, Tanya Griffith, Lois Smith and Audrey Evans — allege both substantive and procedural errors by the Department of Conservation. The suit cites more than 800 citizen petitions submitted during the permit review process. It also notes that during the review period, the agency was managing a high volume of carbon capture and sequestration permit applications, which led Gov. Jeff Landry to issue a moratorium prioritizing certain Class 6 projects.
Opponents of the project have raised concerns about the growing number of wastewater injection facilities in the region, increased truck traffic and the potential for contamination of drinking water sources. They also point to what they describe as a rise in earthquakes in the area that scientists have linked to human-caused drilling activity.
Citizens in Bienville Parish have continued a yard sign campaign urging the protection of Louisiana’s aquifers and advocating for alternatives to underground injection of produced water. The campaign promotes redirecting federal 45Q tax credit funding toward above-ground treatment options, which industry groups have identified as a growing priority following wastewater disposal issues in other states.
Although the proposed facility is located in Bienville Parish, the outcome of the lawsuit could be closely watched by residents in neighboring areas, including Webster Parish, where groundwater protection and industrial development remain ongoing concerns to some residents.