Whiteman v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC

873 F. Supp. 2d 767, 179 Oil & Gas Rep. 875, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78876, 2012 WL 2062362
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedJune 7, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 5:11CV31
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 873 F. Supp. 2d 767 (Whiteman v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whiteman v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC, 873 F. Supp. 2d 767, 179 Oil & Gas Rep. 875, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78876, 2012 WL 2062362 (N.D.W. Va. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

FREDERICK P. STAMP, JR., District Judge.

I. Procedural History

The plaintiffs, Martin and Lisa White-man, commenced this civil action in the Circuit Court of Wetzel County, West Virginia by filing a complaint alleging that the defendant, Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC (“Chesapeake”), deposited drill cuttings and waste in pits on their land, constituting a physical intrusion in violation of their property rights. The plaintiffs seek an injunction requiring removal of the waste and remediation of any and all contaminated areas of their property. The complaint sets forth claims of nuisance, trespass, negligence, strict liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The defendant then removed the case to this Court.

Subsequently, the plaintiffs filed a motion for partial summary judgment. In support of this motion, the plaintiffs argue: (1) the defendant is entitled to extract minerals from the plaintiffs’ property using only so much surface as is reasonably necessary for extraction, and that limited right does not include the right to permanent residual industrial waste disposal; (2) mineral law widely recognizes that a mineral owner’s permanent waste disposal or purely optional occupation of a surface owner’s property is a trespass; (3) the defendant disposed of thousands of barrels of drilling waste in pits on the plaintiffs’ property, even though it avoided using such pits for many years; and (4) the plaintiffs are entitled to injunctive relief.

Chesapeake also filed a motion for summary judgment arguing: (1) the plaintiffs are bound by a valid release; (2) the plaintiffs are not entitled to injunctive relief when money damages are available; (3) the plaintiffs do not have any common law damage claims; and (4) the plaintiffs have not asserted in their complaint any cause of action pursuant to the West Virginia Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation Act (“Damage Compensation Act”), W. Va.Code § 22-7-1, et seq., and therefore, have waived any such claim.

Both parties filed responses to the motions for summary judgment. In response to the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment, Chesapeake argues: (1) the use of its rights in the surface estate of the property was reasonable; (2) other jurisdictions support the contention that burial of waste materials does not provide a cause of action for common law trespass; and (3) the plaintiffs’ claims for damages may not exceed the fair market value of their damaged property and any claim that may exist under the Damage Compensation Act is limited to the specific remedies allowed by the Damage Compensation Act. Chesapeake also reiterates its arguments that because the plaintiffs executed a valid release in favor of Chesapeake, the plain[770]*770tiffs’ request for equitable relief must be denied in favor of a calculation of monetary damages, and the plaintiffs’ damages are speculative because they have offered no scientific or expert evidence to support their claim that the drill cuttings damaged their property.

In their response to Chesapeake’s motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs assert: (1) the release has no bearing on the defendant’s permanent waste disposal; (2) injunctive relief is proper because monetary damages ■ are not adequate in this case; (3) the defendant’s West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) permits do not insulate them from common law liability; and (4) the plaintiffs’ common law claims are not precluded by the Damage Compensation Act.

Both parties then filed replies in support of their respective- motions for summary judgment. , In its reply, Chesapeake reiterates that the plaintiffs’ releases cannot now be repudiated,. their damages remain speculative, and their common law claims should be rejected. In their reply, the plaintiffs reassert that their common law claims are not precluded by the Damage Compensation Act. The plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment and Chesapeake’s motion for summary judgment are both pending before this Court.1 For the reasons stated below, this Court finds that the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment must be denied and Chesapeake’s motion for summary judgment must be granted in part and denied in part.2

II. Facts

The Whitemans own the surface of a roughly 101-acre parcel in Wetzel County, West Virginia known as Johnson Ridge.3 The Whitemans live on their property with their son, and with pets and livestock, including roughly one hundred sheep. Pursuant to two “severance deeds” dated 1952 and 1965 and their own deed, the plaintiffs own the surface of their property outright, but the severance deeds split the mineral estate from the surface estate.

Chesapeake operates three natural gas wells on a ten-acre section of the plaintiffs’ property pursuant to its lease of mineral rights.4 The plaintiffs did not lease these mineral rights to Chesapeake, rather, Chesapeake’s rights flow entirely from its lease with a third party, a prior lessee, whose rights flow from the deeds severing the minerals. However, the parties do not dispute that Chesapeake owns the rights to the minerals underlying the plaintiffs’ land. Further, the ' parties agree that Chesapeake obtained well work permits and pit waste discharge permits from the WVDEP for the construction and management of all gas wells located on the White-man property.5 (Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. 2.) According to the plaintiffs, the land where the well pad is located was a hay field that produced a substantial crop of hay for their sheep.

[771]*771During Chesapeake’s drilling operations, large volumes of drill cuttings (the pieces of rock and earth dislodged by the drill as it creates a bore hole), mud, and chemical additives were brought to the surface and placed into two lined pits created by Chesapeake on the plaintiffs’ property. Eventually, Chesapeake removed the plastic liner from the bottom of the pits, leaving the waste in the open ground. The waste pits were then covered with clean soil from the plaintiffs’ property. The pits remain in this condition today, and the plaintiffs allege that the ten-acre portion of land on which Chesapeake installed its gas wells is now unfit for any suitable use. Chesapeake’s appraiser, David Shreve, has asserted that the plaintiffs’ property has suffered no diminution in value due to Chesapeake’s operations on the property. (Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. D.)

The plaintiffs executed a written damage release for “all claims or causes of action for the damages resulting from the construction of a Well Location, and Access Road, associated with the 625599 Well.” (Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. E.) Regarding the scope of the release, the parties agree that it applies only to damages resulting from well number 625599, and that the release does not apply in any way to the pit containing drill cuttings and other materials from well number 627374 and well number 627375.

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Related

Teel v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC
906 F. Supp. 2d 519 (N.D. West Virginia, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
873 F. Supp. 2d 767, 179 Oil & Gas Rep. 875, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78876, 2012 WL 2062362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whiteman-v-chesapeake-appalachia-llc-wvnd-2012.