Attorney who won legal battles for Louisiana after Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill receives Coastal Stewardship Award
NEW ORLEANS, LA — Megan Terrell, an attorney in the governor’s office, was honored today (May 31st) with a Coastal Stewardship Award for her years of work on behalf of the people of Louisiana following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) presented the award to Terrell at during the State of the Coast Conference at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans at noon today.
“Since 2016 Megan has served my administration as chief legal advisor on Coastal Activities, and I have witnessed how driven she is as a staff member and how deeply committed she is to the coastal cause and the people of our state,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “She has been a steadfast coastal steward and greatly deserves this recognition.”
Terrell’s leadership resulted in the largest Natural Resources Damage Assessment criminal settlement in history while serving as lead in-house counsel coordinating Louisiana’s legal response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill under former Attorney General Buddy Caldwell. She continues to advise the current administration on NRDA and oil-spill settlement issues and is lead counsel for the complex Environmental Impact Study of the Mississippi River Mid-basin sediment diversion program.
In her tenure as the Environmental Section Chief under two different Attorneys General, there wasn’t a significant environmental issue that she didn’t have a measurable influence on, her nominators say. After Hurricane Katrina, Terrell was a key player in the state’s lawsuit against the Minerals Management Service, lead efforts to extend the insurance claim period for those with wind and flood damage, and fought and won arguments at the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Along with her professional work, Terrell has assisted the Citizen Science Monitoring Project doing bird surveys with the Audubon Society and LSU graduate students.
This is the 23rd year CRCL is honoring individuals and organizations who demonstrate outstanding commitment to the coast and who have made significant contributions to the restoration and conservation of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.
