Bagwell v. United States

21 Cl. Ct. 722, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 418, 1990 WL 169453
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedNovember 2, 1990
DocketNo. 439-87L
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 21 Cl. Ct. 722 (Bagwell v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bagwell v. United States, 21 Cl. Ct. 722, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 418, 1990 WL 169453 (cc 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Bobby Bagwell, Lura Beth Clark, Robert Clark, and Mike Goodner, adjacent landowners in Tillman County, Oklahoma, seek to bring this action under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1988), for an alleged taking of a flowage easement on their land. Plaintiffs assert that they have at all relevant times planted and harvested crops and/or raised livestock on the tracts of land at issue. Plaintiffs further assert that as a result of the reduced drainage capacity of Otter Creek, caused by the release of water from the Lake Altus and Mountain Park Dams by the Army Corps of Engineers (hereinafter, the Corps), plaintiffs’ lands have been damaged, and they are no longer able to support their livestock or farming activities.

After a thorough review of defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and the subsequent filings submitted by the parties, and after considering the issues raised by the parties at oral argument, this court concludes that, at this time, defendant has not proven adequately that each of plaintiffs’ claims are beyond the jurisdiction of this court or time barred by the statute of limitations set out in 28 U.S.C. § 2401 (1988). Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is, therefore, DENIED, without prejudice.

FACTS

Plaintiffs’ first cause of action alleges that in May 1977, during a period of heavy rainfall, the Corps made unnecessarily large releases of water through the Lake Altus Dam on the North Fork of the Red River. Plaintiffs claim that these actions were based on insufficient data, and that the releases by the Corps caused the North Fork of the Red River to break through the natural levee that had separated it from one of its tributaries, Otter Creek, some 20 miles downstream from the dam. As a result of the destruction of this natural levee, the North Fork abandoned its own channel and merged with Otter Creek. According to plaintiffs, this merger of the two streams diminished the drainage capacity of Otter Creek and resulted in the creek’s frequent overflow onto their property. In addition, plaintiffs claim that this reduced drainage capacity also caused water to seep under their land, rendering it unable to support livestock or the farm machinery necessary to farm much of their land.

Plaintiffs’ second cause of action alleges that the design of another dam, the Mountain Park Dam, which is situated approximately 20 miles upstream on Otter Creek from its confluence with the North Fork of the Red River, was based on an inaccurate estimate of Otter Creek’s flowage capacity at the time the Mountain Park Dam was designed and built. Plaintiffs allege that Otter Creek’s drainage capacity has been diminished further since its merger with the North Fork in 1977 as a result of the Corps’ action at the Lake Altus Dam. Plaintiffs also claim that releases of water made from the Mountain Park Dam during the last six months of 1986, due to heavy rainfall in the Otter Creek watershed, exceeded the channel capacity of Otter Creek and caused additional flooding of plaintiffs’ property, and additional water seepage underneath plaintiffs’ property. According to plaintiffs, the flooding and the seepage further rendered their land incapable of supporting livestock or farm machinery.

Prior to bringing this action, plaintiffs Lura Beth and Robert Clark were involved [724]*724in state and federal court proceedings, factually related to the present action. On July 23, 1987, plaintiffs filed this action in the United States Claims Court, alleging that as a result of the operation by the Corps of the Lake Altus Dam’s flood control gates in May of 1977 and the mistaken design capabilities of the Mountain Park Dam, plaintiffs’ lands are now unable to support livestock or the farm machinery necessary to farm much of their lands. Therefore, plaintiffs claim that defendant’s actions constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of a flow-age easement across plaintiffs’ lands, for which plaintiffs claim damages as follows:

PLAINTIFFS FIRST CAUSE SECOND CAUSE TOTAL
Robert & Lura Beth Clark $5,000,000 $2,500,000 $ 7,500,000
Bobby Bagwell & Mike Goodner $3,000,000 $1,500,000 $ 4,500,000
TOTAL $8,000,000 $4,000,000 $12,000,000

Plaintiffs also claim reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and interest.

On April 4, 1988, defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss the ease in this court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Claims Court (RUSCC). Defendant asserts that even if plaintiffs’ claims are true, such claims sound in tort, and fall outside the jurisdiction of this court. In the alternative, defendant contends that plaintiffs’ claims are time barred by the statute of limitations for claims against the government, set out in 28 U.S.C. § 2401 (1988). On January 1, 1989, plaintiffs filed their Objection to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, to which defendant responded, and an oral argument was held on July 3, 1990.

On August 1, 1990, plaintiffs filed a Supplemental Objection to the Introduction of Evidence contained in defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs object to defendant’s inclusion, as evidence, a letter which appears to have been sent from an officer of the Army Corps of Engineers to plaintiff Robert Clark and purports to indicate that officer’s opinion of how likely it was that flooding of Mr. Clark’s land would recur. Plaintiffs object to the inclusion of this letter on the grounds that it does not meet the requirements for the submission of factual matters under the Rules of United States Claims Court and Appendix H(l) thereto, namely, that it is not supported by an affidavit, a transcript of a deposition or of trial testimony, the testimony of a witness who appeared at the hearing on the motion or any of the other submissions referred to in RUSCC 56(c), including answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, or any other evidence which would be admissible at trial.

DISCUSSION

I. Jurisdiction

When deciding a motion to dismiss, which is based on a challenge to the jurisdiction of the court, the court must reach its decision based on the evidence presented to it by the parties. The criteria for deciding a motion to dismiss are clearly different than those utilized by a judge following a trial, after which the fact finder has the benefit of evidence presented through the use of witnesses and authenticated documents. The criteria are also different than when resolving a motion for summary judgment, supported by sworn affidavits and authenticated documents. The judge’s dilemma when deciding a motion to dismiss in a complicated case, such as the case at issue, often is to sift through the allegations in the complaint and the assertions in defendant’s Motion to Dis[725]*725miss, which in this case is unaccompanied by authenticating documentation. The Supreme Court has clearly articulated, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has explicitly adopted, a standard for how courts should weigh evidence presented in a complaint when deciding a motion to dismiss, as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 Cl. Ct. 722, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 418, 1990 WL 169453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bagwell-v-united-states-cc-1990.