Craig H. Hisaw, Inc. v. Bishop

504 P.2d 818, 95 Idaho 145, 1972 Ida. LEXIS 273
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 29, 1972
Docket11042
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 504 P.2d 818 (Craig H. Hisaw, Inc. v. Bishop) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craig H. Hisaw, Inc. v. Bishop, 504 P.2d 818, 95 Idaho 145, 1972 Ida. LEXIS 273 (Idaho 1972).

Opinion

SHEPARD, Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment and from an order denying a new trial. Bishop drilled wells for Hisaw under a written contract and when not paid filed a lien. Hisaw then filed this action, seeking to quiet title to the land and to have Bishop’s lien declared void. Bishop counter-claimed for foreclosure of the lien. The district court rendered judgment in favor of Bishop. We affirm.

In November 1969 defendant-respondent, C.D. Bishop (hereinafter Bishop) agreed to drill two wells on land owned by plaintiff-appellant, counter-defendant, Craig H. Hisaw, Inc. (hereinafter Hisaw). The terms of that contract are not in dispute. 1

Bishop drilled and completed the first well to a depth of 1,051 ft. and it successfully produced water. Bishop then started drilling the second well. During the drilling of the two wells they were tested five times — two tests on the first well and three tests on the second well. Hisaw ordered these tests which were conducted by Layne Pumps, Inc. It was during the third test performed on the second well that problems and difficulty arose which ultimately resulted in this litigation.

During the first two tests of the second well, the test bowls (i. e., the impellers of the turbine pump which drive water up the test pump shaft) were set less than 300 ft. below ground. Prior to the disastrous third test Bishop told Hisaw that the test pump bowls should not be set at more than 300 ft. below ground because there would then be a danger of collapsing the well casing. Hisaw then met again with Layne Pumps, Inc. and the pump bowls were set for testing at the 600 ft. level below ground. The trial court found that Hisaw directed and controlled all testing operations. This finding of the trial court has been assigned as error; however, it.is supported by substantial, although conflicting evidence, and will therefore not be disturbed. Ivie v. Peck, 94 Idaho 625, 495 P.2d 1110 (1972).

During the said third test on the second well, the pump ran for a short time and then malfunctioned to the extent it had to be disengaged from the engine. Layne Pumps, Inc. was unable to pull its test pump from the well shaft. On June 10, *147 1971, Layne Pumps attempted to remove the pump with hydraulic jacks and the test pump column pulled apart at the 384 ft. level below ground, leaving the rest of the column and the pump in the well shaft. Evidently the steel casing inside the well shaft had collapsed. It is suggested that unequal pressures were created by the test pump which drew the water down inside the well shaft below the 350 ft. level, while the water outside the well shaft remained at approximately the 50 ft. level.

Bishop kept his drilling rig over the hole until June 16, 1970. At that time when he had received no further instructions from Hisaw other than that he, Bishop, would not be paid for the second well, he removed his rig. On June 18, and June 20, 1970, Bishop’s men returned to the site and capped and sealed the well shaft.

On September 16, 1970 Bishop filed his notice of claim of lien pursuant to §§ 45-501, 45-507, I.C. Bishop claimed a lien on Hisaw’s wells and surrounding land for the unpaid balance due under the drilling contract. As aforesaid, Hisaw responded by filing this action on November 13, 1970 seeking to quiet title to the land and also seeking to have Bishop’s lien declared void.

The district court found, and His-aw assigns as error, here, the proposition that Bishop’s lien was timely filed. Hisaw contends that the lien was not timely filed within 90 days of the completion of the work. Bishop contends, on the other hand, that the capping and the sealing of the second well, which was carried out on June 18, and 20, 1971 are points in time from which the 90 days should be calculated. Hisaw contends that the work performed on June 18 and 20 was minor and trivial and that the work was substantially terminated on June 16 when Bishop removed the well drilling rig.

It has long been a rule of this Court that minor or trivial work is not sufficient to extend the time within which to file a lien. H. W. Johns-Mansville Co. v. Allen, 37 Idaho 153, 160, 215 P. 840 (1923). However, it is our opinion that capping and sealing of a completed well is not minor or trivial work. See: Minimum Well Construction Standards (Idaho Water Laws and Regulations, Vol. I) promulgated by the Department of Water Administration pursuant to the legislative mandate in Section 42-238(4), I.C. 2

Hisaw directs our attention to Sec. 11 of the Minimum Well Construction Standards which merely suggests the capping and sealing of abandoned wells. As this Court has recently stated in Summers *148 v. Dooley, 94 Idaho 87, 481 P.2d 318, 320 (1971):

“ * * * Whether a statute is mandatory or directory does not depend upon its form, but upon the intention of the legislature, to be ascertained from a consideration of the entire act, its nature, its object, and the consequences that would result from construing it one way or the other.”

Examination of § 42-238, I.C. reveals that every well drilled after July 1, 1967 shall be drilled in compliance with the Minimum Well Construction Standards promulgated by the Department of Water Administration. Penalties for failure to comply therewith are provided, including loss of a driller’s license. We note further the stated purpose of the Minimum Well Construction Standards is as follows:

“1.2 Section 42-237a and sections 42-1601-1605, Idaho Code, requires all flowing wells to be capped or equipped in a manner that will allow the flow of water to be completely stopped when not in use. Flowing and non-flowing wells are to be constructed in a manner as to prevent waste and contamination of ground waters through leaky wells, casings, pipe fittings, valves or pumps, either above or below the land surface.”

It is our opinion that Rule 1.2, supra, when read in pari materia with Rules 3.2 and 3.3a, together with the statute manifests an intention to prevent contamination of ground water from an unsealed well. The requirement that completed wells be capped and sealed is a method of achieving that objective. Therefore, we find that Bishop had a mandatory duty to cap and seal the second well, which duty was performed on June 18 and June 20, 1970. It then follows that the lien filed on September 16, 1970 was timely as filed within 90 days of the completion of the work on the well.

We therefore affirm the trial court’s finding that the filing of the lien was timely, that Bishop was entitled to foreclosure of the lien.

Following judgment, Hisaw moved under Rule 59 I.R.C.P. for a new trial on the basis that there was newly discovered evidence in the form of 380 ft. of well casing which Hisaw had pulled from the well following trial.

Section 10-602(4), I.C. authorizes the granting of a new trial upon the basis of:

“4. Newly discovered evidence, material for the party making the application,

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Bluebook (online)
504 P.2d 818, 95 Idaho 145, 1972 Ida. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/craig-h-hisaw-inc-v-bishop-idaho-1972.