The world’s leading hydrogen supplier sued Livingston Parish last week over local attempts to block the company from storing carbon from its proposed $4.5 billion plant beneath Lake Maurepas.Despite the threat of expensive litigation, some parish leaders say they want to fight the multibillion-dollar company in court to protect the swamp. Air Products Blue Energy, LLC – a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania-headquartered Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. – argued that state and federal law preempts the parish council’s recently passed moratorium on the drilling of wells needed to test the area’s ability to store carbon long-term.Those laws render the local moratorium “invalid and unenforceable,” according to the federal lawsuit filed on Oct. 18 in the Middle District Court in Baton Rouge. The company also argued if the local ordinance…
