Hopewell, Inc. v. Mobil Oil Co.

770 So. 2d 874, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2672, 2000 WL 1634141
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 1, 2000
Docket33,774-CW
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 770 So. 2d 874 (Hopewell, Inc. v. Mobil Oil Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hopewell, Inc. v. Mobil Oil Co., 770 So. 2d 874, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2672, 2000 WL 1634141 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

770 So.2d 874 (2000)

HOPEWELL, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
MOBIL OIL COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 33,774-CW.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 1, 2000.

*875 Adams and Johnson by D. Russell Holwadel, New Orleans, Counsel for Appellants.

Andry & Andry by Gilbert V. Andry, IV, Jonathan B. Andry, New Orleans, Counsel for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, GASKINS and KOSTELKA, JJ.

GASKINS, Judge.

The defendant, Mobil Oil Company (Mobil), filed an application for supervisory writs following the trial court's denial of its exceptions of no cause of action and prescription. This court granted the writ application and ordered the matter briefed. We now reverse the trial court ruling and make the writ peremptory.

FACTS

On April 11, 1994, the plaintiff, Hopewell, Inc. (Hopewell), bought approximately 442 acres in Red River Parish from Mary Elizabeth Harpe Boone, Martha Cuberly Veale, William Veale as trustee for the Veale Living Trust, and Martha Harpe Muckelrath, who appear to have inherited it from an ancestor named Pugh. These defendants are referred to as the Pugh family in the briefs. The property included a 70-acre tract upon which the present dispute is based. In 1921, the Pugh family ancestors gave Fortuna Oil Company (Fortuna) the right to construct a casing head gas plant on the property. Fortuna already held a mineral lease on this tract. In 1922, the Pugh ancestors sold surface rights on the property to Fortuna. Oil and gas operations were conducted on the property by Fortuna. Magnolia Oil Company (Magnolia) later acquired the property from Fortuna. The casing head gas plant and several oil and gas wells were operated on the property. The tract was then conveyed back to the Pugh family in 1945 in settlement of a lawsuit with Magnolia. That conveyance contained the following clause:

*876 It is specifically understood and agreed by and between the parties hereto that there shall be no obligation whatsoever on the part of [Magnolia] to remove foundations or to alter any of the conditions that exist upon any portion of that tract or property which is hereby conveyed by [Magnolia] and Magnolia Pipeline Company, which is specifically described herein this paragraph numbered `4.'

The surface rights were leased to Magnolia. The gas plant later ceased production, possibly in the 1950s. At some point, Mobil acquired Magnolia and assumed the liabilities of that company.

As stated above, Hopewell purchased a 442-acre tract, including the disputed property, from the Pugh family in 1994. On January 2, 1997, Hopewell filed a petition for damages against Mobil and the Pugh family. In its petition, the plaintiff contends that, through the oil and gas operations, hazardous and toxic wastes were deposited in the ground on the disputed 70-acre tract. However, later in the proceedings, Hopewell also seems to object to subsurface structures and other remnants of the oil and gas operation on the property. Hopewell asserts that Mobil had a duty to restore the property and that duty extended to subsequent landowners.

The Pugh family filed exceptions of prematurity, vagueness, no cause of action, and prescription. The trial court sustained the exceptions of vagueness and no cause of action. The exceptions of prescription and prematurity were overruled.

Mobil asserted exceptions of res judicata, no right of action, and prescription. A rule to show cause was set on the exceptions filed by Mobil. The trial court heard argument on all the exceptions and motions. On January 11, 2000, the trial court signed a judgment denying Mobil's exceptions. Mobil filed a writ application with this court, arguing that the trial court erred in denying its exceptions of no right of action and prescription. On March 9, 2000, this court granted the writ application, ordering the trial court to lodge the record and directing counsel to file briefs.

NO RIGHT OF ACTION

Mobil alleges that the right to recover for damage to the property was personal to the owner of the property at the time the damage occurred and did not transfer with the sale to Hopewell. Mobil contends that the trial court erred in holding otherwise and in denying its exception of no right of action. This argument has merit.

Under La. C.C.P. art. 681, except as otherwise provided by law, an action can be brought only by a person having a real and actual interest in what he asserts. The exception of no right of action is appropriate when the plaintiff does not have an interest in the subject matter of the suit or legal capacity to proceed with the suit in a particular case. La. C.C.P. art. 927; Bossier Orthopaedic Clinic v. Durham, 32,543 (La.App.2d Cir.12/15/99), 747 So.2d 731. When considering the exception, the court must ask whether the plaintiff belongs to a particular class for which the law grants a remedy for a particular grievance or whether the plaintiff has an interest in judicially enforcing the right asserted. Bossier Orthopaedic Clinic v. Durham, supra; Grocery Supply Company v. Winterton Food Stores, 31,114 (La. App.2d Cir.12/9/98), 722 So.2d 94.

The modern mineral code has various provisions concerning the obligation of the owner of a mineral servitude or a mineral lessee. La. R.S. 31:22 provides:

The owner of a mineral servitude is under no obligation to exercise it. If he does, he is entitled to use only so much of the land as is reasonably necessary to conduct his operations. He is obligated, insofar as practicable, to restore the surface to its original condition at the earliest reasonable time.
La. R.S. 31:122 provides:
*877 A mineral lessee is not under a fiduciary obligation to his lessor, but he is bound to perform the contract in good faith and to develop and operate the property leased as a reasonably prudent operator for the mutual benefit of himself and his lessor. Parties may stipulate what shall constitute reasonably prudent conduct on the part of the lessee.

See, e.g., Edwards v. Jeems Bayou Production Company, 507 So.2d 11 (La.App. 2d Cir.1987).

Mobil argues that Hopewell has no right to assert the action against it. Mobil contends that a right to recover for damage to property is a personal right that does not pass as an accessory to the subsequent owners. Mobil relies upon Prados v. South Central Bell Telephone Company, 329 So.2d 744 (La.1975), in support of its argument. Prados was not a mineral case, but it shares many key features with the present matter. In Prados, a landowner leased a tract of land to South Central Bell (SCB), and SCB constructed various structures on the leased property. The landowner sold the property to another person, who also executed a lease in favor of SCB. Both leases provided:

It is understood and agreed that lessee will have the privilege of erecting buildings, sheds, fences, etc., and shall also have the privilege of removing same at the completion of this lease or renewals thereof.

The lease terminated, and the owner of the land at that time did not require SCB to remove the structures it had built. Instead, that landowner sold the property to the plaintiff. The plaintiff demanded that SCB remove the structures; when SCB refused, the plaintiff had the land cleared and sued SCB, demanding compensation for the demolition.

The trial court granted relief to the plaintiff, and the court of appeal affirmed.

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Bluebook (online)
770 So. 2d 874, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2672, 2000 WL 1634141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hopewell-inc-v-mobil-oil-co-lactapp-2000.