A Louisiana flood protection board has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive its lawsuit seeking to make oil, gas and pipeline companies pay for decades of damage to coastal wetlands, hoping to reverse losses in the lower federal courts.

The suit drew fierce opposition from the energy industry and many in state government when it was filed in 2013 by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East. It said the energy industry's dredging of canals in coastal drilling areas contributed to loss of wetlands that form a hurricane buffer for New Orleans. Some 80 companies are named as defendants, among them Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp., and subsidiaries of BP.

While environmental groups have praised the suit as an attempt to hold oil and gas companies accountable, industry supporters have long labeled the lawsuit as an unwarranted attack on a vital industry. “We weren't surprised that they took this last swing,” Chris John, president of the Louisiana Midcontinent Oil and Gas Association