Description: Public nuisance and trespass action brought by King County in Washington State against fossil fuel companies seeking funding of climate change adaptation program.
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King County v. BP p.l.c.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/25/2018 Notice Download Notice of removal filed. Chevron Removed King County Climate Change Lawsuit to Federal Court. On May 25, Chevron Corporation removed the case to federal court, stating that the court had both original federal diversity jurisdiction and original federal question jurisdiction. Regarding federal question jurisdiction, the notice of removal asserted that the plaintiff’s claims implicated “uniquely federal interests” and were governed by federal common law, not state law; that the action “necessarily raises disputed and substantial federal questions that a federal forum may entertain without disturbing a congressionally approved balance of responsibilities between the federal and state judiciaries”; that the Clean Air Act and/or other federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution completely preempted the plaintiff’s claims; that the plaintiff’s claims were based on “alleged injuries to and/or conduct on federal enclaves”; and that the action necessarily implicated federal authority over the navigable waters of the United States and therefore fell within the federal court’s original admiralty jurisdiction. Chevron also argued that the court had original jurisdiction under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and pursuant to federal officer and bankruptcy removal statutes. -
King County v. BP p.l.c.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/09/2018 Complaint Download Complaint filed. King County Sued Five Fossil Fuel Companies in Washington State Court to Compel Funding of Climate Change Adaptation Program. On May 9, 2018, King County in Washington State filed a public nuisance and trespass action in Washington Superior Court against the world’s five largest investor-owned fossil fuel companies. The County asserted that the companies’ “production and promotion of massive quantities of fossil fuels, and their promotion of those fossil fuels’ pervasive use” created a public nuisance of “global warming-induced sea level rise and other climate change hazards.” The County contended that the companies were individually and collectively “substantial contributors” to global warming who promoted the use of fossil fuels despite knowing “for many years that global warming threatened severe and ever catastrophic harms to coastal areas like King County.” The County also contended that the companies knew that their actions would cause invasions of King County property due to sea level rise and storm surge. The County alleged that it was already experiencing climate change impacts, including “warming temperatures, acidifying marine waters, rising seas, increasing flooding risk, decreasing mountain snowpack, and less water in the summer,” that rising sea levels posed an imminent threat of storm surge flooding that could inundate portions of the county, and that the County would be required to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build infrastructure to protect King County and its residents. The County sought an order of abatement requiring the companies to fund a climate change adaptation program for the County as well as compensatory damages for the costs the County had already incurred.