Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Vandergriff

1942 OK 94, 122 P.2d 1020, 190 Okla. 280, 1942 Okla. LEXIS 64
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 24, 1942
DocketNo. 29262.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1942 OK 94 (Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Vandergriff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Vandergriff, 1942 OK 94, 122 P.2d 1020, 190 Okla. 280, 1942 Okla. LEXIS 64 (Okla. 1942).

Opinion

OSBORN, J.

This action was instituted in the district court of Oklahoma county by Dorothy Vandergriff, here *281 inafter referred to as plaintiff, against the Phillips Petroleum Company, hereinafter referred to as defendant, wherein plaintiff sought to recover damages to certain real property owned by her resulting from the operation of a casinghead gas booster station in the vicinity of said property. Issues were joined, the cause was tried to a jury, and a verdict returned in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $875. From a judgment thereon, defendant has appealed.

Pending the action, plaintiff married one Paul Gillespie.

Plaintiff alleged that she was the owner of certain real property located in the Capitol Courts addition to the city of Oklahoma City; that said property consisted of a four-room brick bungalow and a three-room frame bungalow, and that plaintiff resided on the property as her homestead. She further alleged that in June, 1936, defendant began operating a large plant known as a “casinghead gas booster station” which is used for the purpose of pumping natural gas and other petroleum products through pipe lines owned and operated by defendant; that said property was located about three blocks north of the property of plaintiff and just outside of the corporate limits of the city of Oklahoma City; that in the necessary operation of said booster station defendant used about 35 units, each consisting of twin motors, making a total of 70 motors, each unit generating about 250 horsepower; that said booster station extended about a block in length; that attached to and made a part of said units or motors are heavy flywheels which are revolved at a rapid rate of speed; that said motors are in constant operation day and night, including Sunday; that by reason of the operation of said motors vibrations are given off which vibrations are conducted through the earth and through the air over to the property of this plaintiff and cause said property to shake and vibrate and tremble; that said vibrations are conducted through the earth and through the air with such force and intensity as to damage the foundation of plaintiff’s home and to cause same to crack and settle; that plaintiff’s home is warped out of plumb so that the doors and windows will not open and close properly; that the walls of the home both inside and out have been damaged and cracked. Plaintiff alleged that her property has been damaged to the extent of $1,500.

For a second cause of action, plaintiff sought recovery of damages for inconvenience, annoyance, and discomfort, but the jury found against her on this cause of action and she has prosecuted no cross-appeal. We have therefore omitted the allegations with reference to plaintiff’s claims for damages for inconvenience, annoyance, and discomfort.

For its answer defendant filed a general denial and admitted its ownership and operation of the booster station, but alleged that said station was properly located and that the use of the premises for the operation thereof constituted a proper, reasonable, and necessary use thereof.

For its first assignment of error defendant complains of the giving of the following instruction:

“If, from a preponderance of all the evidence, facts and surrounding circumstances in this case you find that the operation of the booster station in question by the defendant company, proximately and directly caused a substantial physical, actual damage to the property of the plaintiff as alleged in her petition, then you are instructed she would be entitled to recover therefor on her first cause of action, such sum as you may determine represents the difference between the reasonable market value of her property immediately before such damage was caused by such operation of said station and the reasonable market value of said property after the damage was caused to her property, not to exceed, however, the sum of $1,500, the amount asked in her first cause of action.”

Plaintiff calls attention, however, to the instruction given by the court immediately preceding the above instruction as follows:

*282 “Under the law of this state every person or company has the right to the reasonable use and enjoyment of his or its own property. The plaintiff has a right to the reasonable, peaceful use of her property as a home, and the defendant has a right to operate, in a reasonable manner, its lawful business at the place and time in question.”

It is argued that the instruction is faulty in that the court failed to include therein the statement that defendant would not be liable unless it made an unreasonable use of its property in view of all the circumstances involved or unreasonably interfered with plaintiff’s property or property rights. Plaintiff relies upon the case of Fairfax Oil Co. v. Bolinger, 186 Okla. 20, 97 P. 2d 574, as determinative of the issue thus raised by defendant. In that case the plaintiff sought recovery of damages to her residence property caused by vibration resulting from the drilling of an oil well on adjacent premises. The principal contention therein made was that, since plaintiff’s property was located in a district zoned for drilling purposes in Oklahoma City, and since the drilling was authorized pursuant to city ordinance, no recovery could be had without proof of actionable negligence or some unusual, unreasonable, or improper use of defendant’s property while the operations were in progress. It was held that a drilling oil and gas well is not a nuisance per se, but even though that use be legal, if the property of another is substantially damaged as a result thereof, the latter may recover as for a nuisance in fact; that a legalized use of property becomes a nuisance per accidens if that use substantially damages the property of another; that such was the purpose and effect of section 23, art. 2, of the Constitution, which provides that no private property shall be taken or damaged for private use with or without compensation, unless by consent of the owner. It was therein held that plaintiff was entitled to compensation for the damages to her real property resulting from the drilling of the oil well.

Defendant relies upon the case of Gulf Pipeline Co. v. Sims, 168 Okla. 209, 32 P. 2d 902. That was an action for personal injuries in which the provisions of section 23, art. 2, of the Constitution were in no wise involved. Defendant also refers to the case of Patterson v. Roxana Petroleum Co., 109 Okla. 89, 234 P. 713. In that action the defendant prevailed and the plaintiff appealed. The comment contained in the opinion, relied upon by defendant herein, is a statement of the evidence which the court reviewed in determining whether the issues of fact had been properly determined by the jury. The case of Fairfax Oil Co. v. Bolinger, supra, is determinative of the present issue, and defendant’s contentions in this respect are without merit.

For its second assignment of error defendant complains of the giving of the following instruction:

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Bluebook (online)
1942 OK 94, 122 P.2d 1020, 190 Okla. 280, 1942 Okla. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-petroleum-co-v-vandergriff-okla-1942.