Louisiana fishers are suing liquefied natural gas company Venture Global, arguing that dredging tied to the company's planned CP2 export terminal near Calcasieu Lake has damaged the waters they depend on for a living.
The case adds to the conflict over LNG growth in Cameron Parish and whether that expansion is harming nearby seafood workers and communities.
Here's what to know
Twenty plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against Venture Global on July 30 in Louisiana's 38th Judicial District Court, linking their claims to dredging for the CP2 terminal near Calcasieu Lake.
Venture Global already operates an LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish worth nearly $10 billion, and it is constructing a second one projected to cost about $30 billion. To accommodate tankers headed to the new facility, the company is expanding a nearby channel.
Dredging began in early June 2025. The following month, a crabber reported mud-covered traps in a marsh near the CP2 site to Cameron Parish officials. By August, fishers and advocates had documented muddy water flowing over a small dam into the southern end of Calcasieu Lake.
One of the plaintiffs, Anthony "Tad" Theriot, said his immediate losses exceeded $450,000. Venture Global later said a spill sent about 9,000 to 18,000 cubic yards of sediment into a channel and marsh along the lake.
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More background
As Verite News reported, the plaintiffs say the August spill was one of several incidents, including a burst sediment pipe that temporarily stopped dredging.
The filing describes impacts that lasted beyond a single incident: cloudy lake water, muddy oysters, and dirty equipment. Those conditions can lead to lost harvests, more cleanup work, and doubts about when or whether productive fishing grounds will recover.
What's being done?
Cooper Fournet, the attorney for the plaintiffs, described the volume of sediment released: "If you took a standard-sized dump truck and lined them up, it would be like 5 miles of dump trucks."
Instead of directly answering questions about the lawsuit's allegations, Venture Global pointed to a written statement acknowledging one incident: "In August 2025, a discharge that contained a higher volume of sediment than anticipated traveled from the placement area into an offsite channel."
Theriot described a best-case outcome as getting paid for the years affected and eventually returning to work: "Best case scenario, they pay you for every year that they mess up and…then you get to go back fishing."
Where can I learn more?
These stories put the Venture Global dispute in context, looking at similar fights between fishing communities and gas and oil projects, along with the broader climate and health costs tied to LNG expansion.
• Louisiana fishermen are also fighting a pipeline permit over wetlands they say threatened their marshes.
• Across the LNG industry, the fuel's climate footprint may be worse than coal.
• Oil and gas pollution is driving premature deaths and asthma beyond the Gulf Coast.
• Meanwhile, major companies are treating fossil fuels as investments even as coastal conflicts deepen.
The Calcasieu Lake lawsuit is part of a larger debate over who pays the price for gas and oil expansion.
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