Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling to decertify a class action filed by landowners for releases from Exxon’s 850-mile Pegasus Pipeline that crosses four states from Texas to Illinois.  The case, Webb, et al. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., et al., Dkt. No. 15-2879 (8th Cir., May 11, 2017), was filed by a group of landowners who claimed that Exxon materially breached the terms of their right-of-way easement agreements by allegedly failing to inspect, maintain, repair, and replace the pipeline, which was originally installed in the mid-1940s.  At various times since the 1980s, the pipeline had releases in Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, which the plaintiffs claim resulted in damage to their properties.  The plaintiffs sought to rescind their right-of-way easement agreements and force Exxon to remove or replace the entire pipeline, or in the alternative, to be paid damages for breach of contract and diminution in property value.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Arkansas, Certification, Class Actions, Cleanup, Contamination, Damages, Eighth Circuit, Energy, Federal Procedure, Illinois, Missouri, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, Property Value, Texas

In a toxic tort class action involving a chemical spill that may have affected thousands of individuals in an immediate geographic area, the Eighth Circuit held that class action plaintiffs’ expert report definitively alleging damages greater than $5 million triggered defendant’s 30-day removal period under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), but held that an earlier letter from plaintiffs’ counsel “recommending” a settlement over $5 million did not.  Gibson v. Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., No. 16-8012, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 19073 (8^th Cir. Oct. 24, 2016).  CAFA was enacted in 2005 and expanded federal diversity jurisdiction to include a greater number of class actions and other multi-plaintiff actions.  Among other things, CAFA provides that where a putative class includes greater than 100 members seeking greater than $5 million, the defendant may remove the action, regardless of traditional diversity requirements. Read More »

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October Term 2012 gets underway at the U.S. Supreme Court this week, and the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause will be front and center in one of the arguments heard by the Court today.  In Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, No. 11-597, the Justices consider whether government actions that cause recurring flooding on a parcel of land must continue permanently in order to constitute a taking for which the government is obligated to provide just compensation.  The Court’s decision in this case could affect whether a variety of government actions that cause recurring physical invasions of land demand compensation under the U.S. Constitution. Read More »

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In April, we reported on an Arkansas Supreme Court case which held that, at least as of 1934, the term “mineral rights” included oil and gas as a matter of law.  But what about deeds of an older vintage?  Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court, inNicholson v. Upland Industrial Development Co., 2012 Ark. 326 (Sept. 13, 2012), ruled that a 1903 deed reserving “mineral rights” included oil and gas rights because at the time of the deed and in the general region where the deed was executed, that was the common understanding.  In other words, the per se rule announced in Staggs v, Union Pacific RR Co.* did not apply. Read More »

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Yesterday, in discussing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s grant of review in Butler v. Estate of Powers, we suggested that maybe it was time to do away with the rebuttable presumption that the owner of “mineral rights” does not own rights in a property’s natural gas stores and instead make it a firm rule of law, particularly in light of the fact that the presumption has been around for over a century.    Well, last week, this is exactly the step that the Supreme Court of Arkansas took in Staggs v, Union Pacific RR Co., 2012 Ark. 156 (Apr. 12, 2012), although holding that “mineral rights” do include oil and gas rights.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Arkansas, Deeds, Leases, Marcellus Shale, Oil and Gas