Standard Steam Trust LLC v. Windfall Minerals, LLC

872 F. Supp. 2d 1207, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75178, 2012 WL 1957307
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedMay 31, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 11-cv-00447-WJM-CBS
StatusPublished

This text of 872 F. Supp. 2d 1207 (Standard Steam Trust LLC v. Windfall Minerals, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Standard Steam Trust LLC v. Windfall Minerals, LLC, 872 F. Supp. 2d 1207, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75178, 2012 WL 1957307 (D. Colo. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS, GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S PARTIAL MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

WILLIAM J: MARTÍNEZ, District Judge.

The claims in this action arise out of a lease for land owned by Windfall Minerals in Elko County, Nevada. Before the Court are the following motions: (1) Standard Steam’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (ECF No. 66); (2) Windfall Minerals’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 75); and (3) Standard Steam’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 77). For the reasons set forth below, summary judgment will be entered on all claims except Windfall Minerals’s counterclaim for breach of contract.

I. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1 Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Henderson v. Inter-Chem Coal Co., Inc., 41 F.3d 567, 569 (10th Cir.1994). Whether there is a genuine dispute as to a material fact depends upon whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or conversely, is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 248M9, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Stone v. Autoliv ASP, Inc., 210 F.3d 1132 (10th Cir.2000); Carey v. U.S. Postal Service, 812 F.2d 621, 623 (10th Cir.1987).

A fact is “material” if it pertains to an element of a claim or defense; a factual dispute is “genuine” if the evidence is so contradictory that if the matter went to trial, a reasonable party could return a verdict for either party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The Court must resolve factual ambiguities against the moving party, thus favoring the right to a trial. Quaker State Minit-Lube, Inc. v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 52 F.3d 1522, 1527 (10th Cir.1995); Houston v. Nat’l General Ins. Co., 817 F.2d 83, 85 (10th Cir.1987).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Standard Steam is a Colorado limited liability corporation that is in the business of acquiring, exploring, and developing industrial scale geothermal energy resources in the western United States. (Compl. (ECF No. 2) ¶ 5.) Windfall Minerals is Nevada Limited Liability Corporation that owns the mineral rights in land in Elko County, Nevada. (Answer (ECF No. 11) ¶ 6.)

In 2007, Standard Steam began leasing land in the Marys River area of Elko County, Nevada. (Compl. ¶ 7.) Standard Steam focused its efforts on land owned by the United States and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. (WM SOF 2.)2 Standard Steam authorized a contrac[1211]*1211tor named Greg Hahn to inspect lands in this area for potential exploration opportunities. (WM SOF 22.) While inspecting the Marys River area, Hahn became aware that the Marys River ran through the land and he assumed that this river and its riparian area would have to be avoided during any geothermal exploration. (WM SOF 6.)

On August 5, 2008, Standard Steam was awarded two leases in a BLM auction. (WM SOF 24.) Materials distributed in conjunction with the BLM lease sale stated that BLM restrictions prohibited “ground disturbance within 400 feet of streams and banks.” (WM SOF 16.) These materials also stated that the BLM would consider proposed exploration and development activities on a case-by-case basis. (WM SOF 14.)

Standard Steam learned that the mineral rights to much of the land in the Marys River area had been severed from the surface rights and that Windfall Minerals was the owner of those mineral rights. (Compl. ¶ 7.) Therefore, on October 22, 2008, the parties entered into a Geothermal Lease and Agreement (“Lease”) and an Addendum Amendment to Geothermal Lease and Agreement (“Addendum”). (ECF No. 2-1.) Generally3, the Lease gave Standard Steam all of Windfall Minerals’s interests in the geothermal, mineral, and subsurface water on certain parcels of property (the “Lands”). (Id.) Standard Steam was to pay Windfall Minerals rent and royalties on the Lands and Standard Steam retained the right to terminate the Lease as to the entire property or any portion in its sole discretion. (Lease § 5.3, 6, 7.) The Addendum set out a bonus payment that Standard Steam was to make if and/or when certain events occurred. (ECF No. 2-1 at 23-24.) The majority of the dispute in this case centers around whether these events occurred so as to trigger the bonus payment.

The Lease involved only the mineral rights to the Lands and, therefore, Standard Steam was still required to negotiate for rights to the surface before it could begin exploration. (Lease § 1.2; WM SOF 33.) The surface rights to the Lands was held by the following entities: WBW Ranch, Rafter Diamond Ranches, Cross Ranch, and BLM. (WM SOF 37.) Standard Steam acquired nine geothermal leases from the BLM in September 2009 and eight more in June 2010. (WM SOF 66 & 67.) On May 1, 2009, Standard Steam leased the surface rights to the land owned by Rafter Diamond Ranches. (ECF No. 75-29.) On April 13, 2010, Standard Steam leased the surface rights to the land owned by WBW Ranch. (WM SOF 88.) The record is unclear as to whether Standard Steam entered into a lease or made any other arrangement with Cross Ranches.

On January 20, 2010, the BLM granted Standard Steam permission to drill fifteen temperature gradient wells on land to which it held the surface rights. (WM SOF 90.) However, the BLM restricted Standard Steam from drilling between May 15 and August 15 due to sage-grouse brooding and mule deer crucial seasons. (Id.) On April 1, 2010, the BLM granted Standard Steam permission to drill ten [1212]*1212more temperature gradient wells. (WM SOF 98.) Additionally, the State of Nevada issued Standard Steam permits to drill twenty-nine temperature gradient wells between February 5 and March 24, 2010. (WM SOF 100.)

Between March 12 and May 18, 2010, Standard Steam drilled five wells on land in which the surface rights were held by the BLM and the mineral rights were owned by Windfall Minerals. (WM SOF 103.) Standard Steam also drilled three wells on land in which the surface was owned by Cross Ranch and the mineral rights by Windfall Minerals. (WM SOF 106.) All of the wells drilled by Standard Steam were “test” wells used to explore geothermal potential as opposed to production wells which would be used to produce geothermal reserves. (WM SOF 11.)

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Bluebook (online)
872 F. Supp. 2d 1207, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75178, 2012 WL 1957307, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/standard-steam-trust-llc-v-windfall-minerals-llc-cod-2012.