Union Pacific Railroad v. United States

107 Fed. Cl. 76, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1243, 2012 WL 4888535
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedOctober 16, 2012
DocketNo. 12-89C
StatusPublished

This text of 107 Fed. Cl. 76 (Union Pacific Railroad v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Union Pacific Railroad v. United States, 107 Fed. Cl. 76, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1243, 2012 WL 4888535 (uscfc 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

This ease stems from the alleged breach of a 1959 contract between the United States Government (“the government”) and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company (“the Katy”).1 The Katy was a predecessor-in-interest to the present plaintiff, Union Pacific Railroad Company (“Union Pacific”). The purpose of this contract was to enable the construction of a dam and reservoir by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”) by making attendant modifications on the adjacent railway. See Pl.’s Opp’n to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Opp’n”), Ex. A. In 1964, the Corps completed the project, and the modified railway track-age functioned without incident for many years. On May 23, 2003, however, a train owned and operated by Union Pacific derailed while traveling across a section of track that partially collapsed. Union Pacific determined that the accident was caused by the Corps’ erroneous installation of two large culverts underneath the track. The culverts that had been installed were fabricated from metal rather than reinforced concrete as dictated by the contract. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to recover in tort (first through an administrative claim with the Corps, and subsequently via a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma), Union Pacific commenced an action for breach of contract in this court on February 9, 2012. See Compl. The government responded by moving for dismissal of the suit as untimely due to expiration of the six-year statute of limitations applicable generally to actions filed in this court. See Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 8 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2501). The motion has been fully briefed, a hearing was held on September 20, 2012, and Union Pacific filed a supplemental brief on October 11, 2012. Based upon an examination of all possible dates of accrual for this cause of action, the government’s motion to dismiss is granted.

BACKGROUND 2

A. The Contract at Issue

On September 24, 1959, the Katy and the government entered into a contract in relation to the development of a flood control project called the Eufala Dam and Reservoir (“Eufala”). Compl., Ex. 1, at 1. To accommodate the resulting man-made lake, adjacent properties would have to be altered significantly. The Katy owned such an adjacent property on which it maintained railroad tracks and appurtenant facilities. After it [79]*79became apparent that the Katy’s property was vital to the completion of Eufala, the government and the Katy entered into the contract that gives rise to the present action. See Union Pac. R.R. v. United States ex rel. United States Army Corps of Eng’rs, 591 F.3d 1311, 1313 (10th Cir.2010).

The contract stipulated that the Katy would give to the government certain titles to and easements on property necessary for the completion of Eufala. Def.’s Mot. Ex. A (Contract with Owner for Relocation and Alteration of Facilities (Cost Reimbursable)) (Sept. 24, 1959) (“Contract”), at 2. Specifically, the government needed to acquire and relocate portions of the Muskogee and Wil-burton Subdivisions of the Katy that would interfere with the development and eventual use of the dam and reservoir. Id. In exchange for the Katy’s land and rights-of-way, the government agreed that the Corps would build new embankments for railroad tracks and facilities on the Katy’s remaining property and that the new construction would be integrated with the Eufala infrastructure. See Union Pac., 591 F.3d at 1313.

The contract set forth explicit criteria for the execution of the construction project. These specifications described how each aspect of the project was to be completed, including the installation of culverts for drainage underneath the embankments. According to the contract, culverts located below the power-pool elevation of 585.0 feet were to be constructed of monolithic, reinforced concrete, whereas culverts above such elevation could instead be made of corrugated metal pipe, depending upon the cross-sectional area of the pipe. Pl.’s Opp’n, Ex. A (Contract), at 7.3 The contract also contained a release clause, providing that:

[The Katy] agrees on completion of the relocation and/or alteration work provided herein, to accept the payment and the portion of the work to be performed by the [government provided for in Article 3 above as full and just compensation for any and all damages and injury that have been caused or that may be caused to the facilities relocated hereunder by reason of the construction and maintenance of the Project by the [government; and upon final payment and completion of the work to be performed by the [government as herein provided, [The Katy] agrees to and does hereby release and agree to save and hold the [government harmless from any and all causes of action, suits at law or equity, or claims or demands, or from any liability of any nature whatsoever for and on account of any damages to the lands conveyed and utilities relocated hereunder, or in any way growing out of the construction, operation and maintenance of the [p]rojeet.

Contract at 29 (Art. 10).

The Contract was signed in 1959, and construction was completed by 1964. Def.’s Mot. at 9. Although the Katy was entitled under the Contract to have an engineer present during construction, the parties have not indicated whether this entitlement was ever acted on by the Katy. Compl. at 7. The source of this apparent uncertainty might reflect the fact that the Katy was ultimately succeeded in interest by the present plaintiff, Union Pacific. Compl. at 1. This transfer of interest and the passage of time appear to have left Union Pacific without a precise knowledge of what happened during construction. The complaint addresses the matter tangentially by asserting that even if a Katy engineer were present, “it would not have been apparent ... that the [government had installed metal culverts improperly.” Compl. at 7.

B. Accident and Investigation

On May 23, 2003, a train identified as MKCFQ-21, owned by Union Pacific, derailed while crossing an area of track laid on an embankment constructed by the Corps. The train had been traveling adjacent to Lake Eufala and over a section of track supported in part by largely submerged culverts when the accident occurred. See Union Pac., 591 F.3d at 1313.

[80]*80Following the accident, Union Pacific initiated an investigation into the cause of MKCFQ-21’s derailment. This investigation was headed by Superintendent Norman Kirk and assisted by Union Pacific’s engineer and expert on culvert design and performance, George Meyer. Def.’s Mot., Ex. B, Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death, on SF-95 (May 13, 2005) (“Admin. Claim”), Attach. 1 (“Basis of Claim”). Based on their investigation, Union Pacific determined that the sudden collapse of two culverts underneath the rails caused the accident. Compl. at 2-3. Specifically, the investigators concluded that the culverts collapsed because they were constructed of corrugated metal rather than monolithic, reinforced concrete as dictated by the contract. Compl. at 6.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kendall v. United States
107 U.S. 123 (Supreme Court, 1883)
Finn v. United States
123 U.S. 227 (Supreme Court, 1887)
McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp.
298 U.S. 178 (Supreme Court, 1936)
Land v. Dollar
330 U.S. 731 (Supreme Court, 1947)
Larson v. Domestic and Foreign Commerce Corp.
337 U.S. 682 (Supreme Court, 1949)
Soriano v. United States
352 U.S. 270 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Finley v. United States
490 U.S. 545 (Supreme Court, 1989)
John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States
552 U.S. 130 (Supreme Court, 2008)
Ingrum v. United States
560 F.3d 1311 (Federal Circuit, 2009)
Young v. United States
529 F.3d 1380 (Federal Circuit, 2008)
Vandesande v. United States
673 F.3d 1342 (Federal Circuit, 2012)
Donald A. Henke v. United States
60 F.3d 795 (Federal Circuit, 1995)
Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc.
545 U.S. 546 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Floorpro, Inc. v. United States
680 F.3d 1377 (Federal Circuit, 2012)
Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment
523 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1998)
OTI America, Inc. v. United States
68 Fed. Cl. 108 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Nez Perce Tribe v. United States
83 Fed. Cl. 186 (Federal Claims, 2008)
RAM Energy, Inc. v. United States
94 Fed. Cl. 406 (Federal Claims, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
107 Fed. Cl. 76, 2012 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1243, 2012 WL 4888535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/union-pacific-railroad-v-united-states-uscfc-2012.