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Terrebonne Parish sues BP over oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz has filed suit against oil giant BP, seeking money for wildlife killed or hurt by the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, is among the first in an expected series from prosecutors in coastal parishes. St. Tammany Parish's district attorney also sued the company on Monday. Lafourche Parish prosecutors are scheduled to meet Wednesday to determine whether they will file a similar lawsuit.
Each lawsuit will be handled within its own parish. Sixty percent of awarded money -- if any -- would go to the State Conservation Fund. The rest would go to the district attorney's office.
Don Carmouche, a Gonzales attorney who is a part of a team of lawyers handling the Terrebonne suit, said significant impact from the oil spill to Terrebonne and other parishes along the coast is certain.
"It's real," he said. "It's going to be horrible, ultimately, for the state."