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By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to revive a Louisiana levee board's lawsuit blaming dozens of oil and gas companies for damage to the state's fragile coast.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Friday upheld a federal judge's 2015 decision in favor of energy companies that argued the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East lacked legal standing to bring damage claims.

The board had argued that damage to the coast done by decades of drilling and canal dredging by energy companies contributed to the loss of coastal wetlands that form a hurricane buffer for New Orleans.