Case Title: McAlister v. Atlantic Richfield Co.

Citation: 233 Kan. 252, 662 P.2d 1203

Docket Number: 54,357, 54,358

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1983-04-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
233 Kan. 252 (1983)
662 P.2d 1203
ROY E. McALISTER, Appellant,
v.
ATLANTIC RICHFIELD COMPANY, a corporation, successor to SINCLAIR PRAIRIE OIL COMPANY; MOBIL OIL CORPORATION, successor to MAGNOLIA PETROLEUM CORPORATION; ALADDIN PETROLEUM CORPORATION; WESTRANS PETROLEUM, INC., a corporation; J.S. KANTOR, d/b/a KANTOR OIL COMPANY; and SOUTHERN STATES OIL CORPORATION, Appellees. ROY E. McALISTER, Appellant,
v.
MARATHON OIL COMPANY, INC., successor to OHIO OIL COMPANY, INC.; and GETTY OIL COMPANY, successor to SKELLY OIL COMPANY, INC., Appellees.
Nos. 54,357, 54,358

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed April 29, 1983.
Patrick L. Dougherty, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the briefs for the appellant.
T.J. Carney, of Turner & Boisseau, Chartered, of Great Bend, argued the cause, and Joseph R. Ebbert, of the same firm, was on the brief for Atlantic Richfield Company, appellee.
Evan J. Olson, of Hershberger, Patterson, Jones & Roth, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Richard Jones, of the same firm, was with him on the brief for Mobil Oil Corporation, appellee.
William Sumner Scott, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, argued the cause and was on the brief for Westrans Petroleum, Inc., appellee.
Carl L. Wettig, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for Aladdin Petroleum Corporation and J.S. Kantor, d/b/a Kantor Oil Company, appellees.
Robert M. Siefkin and Susan L. Smith, of Foulston, Siefkin, Powers & Eberhardt, *254 of Wichita, argued the cause, and Jerry G. Elliott, of the same firm, was with her on the brief for Southern States Oil Corporation, appellee.
Evan J. Olson, of Hershberger, Patterson, Jones & Roth, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Jeffrey R. Akins, of Casper, Wyoming, was with him on the brief for Marathon Oil Company, Inc., appellee.
R. Douglas Reagan, of Foulston, Siefkin, Powers & Eberhardt, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for Getty Oil Company, appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
LOCKETT, J.:
This is an action for damages caused by alleged violations of the Oil Well Pollution Act, K.S.A. 55-121. The issues of liability and damages were bifurcated and the matter proceeded on the issue of liability only. Summary judgments were entered for each defendant; from the trial court's ruling this appeal results.
This is an appeal from an order granting summary judgment in case No. 54,357, and a motion to dismiss in case No. 54,358. Both cases arise out of the same factual situation and were filed by plaintiff McAlister, against various oil companies who had conducted or were conducting oil operations on or near plaintiff's land.
McAlister is the owner of three tracts of land in Harvey County, Kansas. Plaintiff purchased a two-acre tract of land in 1966 where the old Willis School is located; in 1967 he purchased an additional 80-acre tract adjacent to the Willis School tract; and in 1968 an additional 40 acres adjacent to the Willis School tract was purchased by the plaintiff. McAlister purchased the land to form a new agriculture business and to conduct experiments, knowing the area was situated in an oil-producing area. When the land was purchased there was an existing fresh water well on the Willis School tract that produced good water. McAlister determined that the existing well did not produce the volume of fresh water to supply his increasing needs. In February of 1970, McAlister had a new well drilled to the depth of 120 feet outside the schoolhouse. In the early part of 1974, McAlister noticed that the water in this well suddenly had developed an "extremely high chloride and salt content" which rendered the water unfit for any use. Plaintiff filed his first action in case No. 54,357. During discovery, plaintiff determined that additional oil companies may have contributed to the pollution of his fresh water well; therefore, he filed the second action. At a hearing conducted by the district court, the judge sustained the defendants' *255 motion for summary judgment in case No. 54,357 and motion to dismiss in case No. 54,358. Plaintiff has appealed both orders.
August 29, 1975, plaintiff filed his petition against five oil companies, Atlantic Richfield Company, successor to Sinclair Prairie Oil Company (Atlantic Richfield); Mobil Oil Corporation, successor to Magnolia Petroleum Corporation (Mobil); Aladdin Petroleum Corporation (Aladdin); Westrans Petroleum, Inc. (Westrans); J.S. Kantor d/b/a Kantor Oil Company (Kantor); and filed an amended petition on May 24, 1976, adding Southern States Oil Corporation (Southern). For some reason, plaintiff and his attorney had a parting of the way shortly after the petition was filed and plaintiff proceeded pro se. For the next several years, the parties conducted discovery. During 1981, each of the defendants filed motions for summary judgment which the trial court a sustained. When sustaining each defendant's motion for summary judgment, the trial court found (1) there was no genuine issue as to any material fact and the party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law (K.S.A. 60-256[c]); (2) plaintiff had not established a causal connection to any of the defendants and the claims were based on nothing more than speculation and conjecture; and (3) K.S.A. 55-140 was not appropriate or applicable to the case. Other findings were made by the court in each order of summary judgment but will not be stated in the opinion since they are not material to the finding.
Plaintiff listed witnesses who were local residents that would testify to various salt water or oil tank leaks, leadline leaks, well leaks, tank battery leaks, breaks, surface spills, and various disposal ponds now existing or which had existed in the past and were now covered over. None of the local witnesses could testify which defendant or if any defendants' acts caused pollution to the plaintiff's water well.
Depositions were taken from four expert witnesses listed by the plaintiff.
(1) Ralph E. O'Connor, district geologist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment: Mr. O'Connor had conducted extensive investigation of water wells within a several mile radius of plaintiff's Willis School well. From the investigation, O'Connor concluded that the salt water pollution was a result of the plaintiff's drilling his water well too deep, thereby *256 penetrating the salt laden waters present in the Permian zone underlying the equus beds. Other wells less than 120 feet in depth in the area produced fresh water. O'Connor also stated chemical analysis of the water from plaintiff's well indicated that the pollution of the well water was oil field derived.
(2) Dr. Ronald L. Wells, a consulting engineer and Director of General Laboratories in Hutchinson, and a graduate engineer from Colorado School of Mines, with training and past experience in engineering, chemistry and physics, and having taken college courses in geology, historical geology, crystallography, and mineralogy, conducted two analyses of plaintiff's well water. Dr. Wells was of the opinion that the contamination of plaintiff's water well was salt water brine from oil field production. Dr. Wells admitted he had no specific evidence of who contributed to the pollution of the plaintiff's water well. Dr. Wells was of the opinion that, if salt water brine was allowed to escape on the surface of sandy soil over the equus beds, it would percolate down into the equus bed. The escaping salt water brine would generally flow in one direction but also would fan out in several directions in the equus beds, contaminating the beds.
(3) John S. Fryberger, hydrogeologist and Vice President of Engineering Enterprises, Inc., and Richard Lewis, project hydrogeologist, filed a report. Based on tests of plaintiff's well water, they concluded that the salt water pollution in the water was from oil field production.
A field investigation encompassing an area of 25 square miles in the vicinity of the McAlister Willis School well determined the source of pollution of plaintiff's water well. The investigation, using Kansas Corporation Commission records and unpublished data, also involved interviewing local residents, measuring private wells, determining the configuration of the surface of the equus beds, and using aerial maps to determine the source of pollution of plaintiff's water well. The source of pollution was leachate from unlined ponds, seepage from improperly plugged wells, injection into shallow zones, poor maintenance of brine ponds, and leakage from leadlines and tanks conveying or holding brine water. Based on the time of operation, size of ponds, and length of salt water pipelines, they concluded the percentage of damage contributed by each defendant. Some of the information contained in the report indicated the defendants' *257 pollution, if any, could not yet affect plaintiff's water well due to the time necessary for the escaping pollutant to travel and affect plaintiff's well water.
(4) Robert Hecht-Nielsen: Hecht-Nielsen has a doctorate degree in mathematics and a bachelor of science degree from Arizona State University. Based on information supplied by the plaintiff, he prepared a report dated October 22, 1979. Using the information supplied, he devised a mathematical formula to determine the percentage of pollution contributed by each of the defendants. He admitted he was not prepared to prove the results of his determination.
Plaintiff brought the action for damages for the pollution of his fresh water well claiming defendants violated K.S.A. 55-121 and that there is evidence that the defendants allowed salt water brine to escape from their oil drilling operations.
Judgment was granted the defendants pursuant to K.S.A. 60-256(c), which provides in part:
A motion for summary judgment may be granted only if the record before the court conclusively shows there remains no genuine issue of a material fact unresolved. Hanks v. Riffe Constr. Co., 232 Kan. 800, 658 P.2d 1030 (1983); Motors Insurance Corporation v. Richardson, 220 Kan. 288, 552 P.2d 894 (1976); Brown v. Wichita State University, P.E.C., Inc., 217 Kan. 661, 538 P.2d 713 (1975); Kern v. Miller, 216 Kan. 724, 533 P.2d 1244 (1975); State Bank of Burden v. Augusta State Bank, 207 Kan. 116, 483 P.2d 1068 (1971); Lawrence v. Deemy, 204 Kan. 299, 461 P.2d 770 (1969); Brick v. City of Wichita, 195 Kan. 206, 403 P.2d 964 (1965).
....
The sole fact issue in this case is whether any or all of the defendants allowed salt water brine to seep from their oil field operations into plaintiff's water well. If there is a question remaining as to whether the seepage into the plaintiff's water well did occur as to a defendant, then, as to that defendant, summary judgment is in error. This action was initiated with plaintiff alleging that defendants violated K.S.A. 55-121.
K.S.A. 55-121, first enacted in 1921, provides in pertinent part:
The statute goes on to provide that such escape of salt water does not violate the statute if it is because of circumstances beyond the operator's control or could not have been reasonably anticipated or guarded against; but that issue has not been raised by the defendants, and none of them have presented any evidence by experts or otherwise as to that issue.
If any of the defendants violated K.S.A. 55-121 and caused plaintiff's pollution, they are civilly liable to plaintiff. In Rusch v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 163 Kan. 11, 180 P.2d 270 (1947), the plaintiff, a farmer, sued Phillips, Cities Service, Gulf, and Phil-Han, claiming pollution of his fresh water because of seepage from salt water disposal ponds. The court held, largely on the basis of chemical analysis showing that the salt water polluting plaintiff's water carried defendant's oil-bearing strata, that plaintiff's case should be submitted to the jury on circumstantial evidence. Further, the court held not only is the issue a jury question but that plaintiff need not disprove other oil operations did not cause his pollution.
The surface drainage in the Rusch case suggested that the water would drain toward plaintiff, but the subsurface contours *259 were not known. There was another party who had not been sued but who had a disposal pond that very well could have caused the pollution complained of by the plaintiff; however, the court held that the case should be submitted to a jury, stating:
The plaintiff in this case need not show negligence, nor need he pinpoint what a particular defendant did or did not do to cause his pollution; this is not an issue. All he need prove is a violation of K.S.A. 55-121.
In Polzin v. National Cooperative Refinery Ass'n, 175 Kan. 531, 266 P.2d 293 (1954), a case involving pollution of fresh water caused by escape of salt water from a well in which salt water was forced, the court held that:
All of the summary judgments granted in this case reflect in the journal entry filed March 11, 1982, that they are based upon a finding that plaintiff could not pinpoint what each defendant did wrong. Such a finding is not a proper or material basis for summary judgment in this case. Such a finding and conclusion is immaterial where plaintiff has pled and offered substantive proof of a violation of K.S.A. 55-121 by each of the defendants.
In Reiserer v. Murfin, 183 Kan. 597, 331 P.2d 313 (1958), a case *260 that involved an alleged pollution of plaintiff's fresh water well by salt water seeping through substrata, the court approved the ruling in Rusch v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 163 Kan. 11, holding that whether the defendant caused plaintiff's pollution is a jury question and affirming that negligence of defendant need not be proved.
The case was bifurcated and, therefore, issues as to damages have not and should not now be of concern in the appeal. The only issue is whether there is any controverted evidence as to the defendants' violation of K.S.A. 55-121 by allowing salt water brine to seep into the ground and escape their control and whether the escape of the brine caused plaintiff's pollution.
There is eyewitness and aerial photographic evidence that brine escaped the control of each defendant. There is also evidence that the salt water that escaped polluted plaintiff's well. Dr. Wells was firmly of the opinion that the salt water in plaintiff's well, in August, 1974, tested over 5,000 parts per million sodium chloride, was from the oil field production. The witness O'Connor related that a sodium chloride ratio below six was indicative of oil field salt water and that plaintiff's water well tested 0.40, which was less than six. Dr. Wells was also of the opinion that all of the defendants caused plaintiff's pollution. Lewis and Fryberger concluded on the basis of field investigations, interviews with witnesses, and state documents and aerial photographs that each defendant had caused plaintiff's pollution. These facts and the locations of defendants' oil field operations relative to plaintiff's fresh water well require that the matter be submitted to a jury.
The trial court has weighed the testimony of the plaintiff's witnesses and determined their observations were of little value or were pure speculation and conjecture. In considering a motion for summary judgment, a trial court must give to a litigant against whom judgment is sought the benefit of all inferences *261 that may be drawn from the admitted facts under consideration. Bowen v. Westerhaus, 224 Kan. 42, 578 P.2d 1102 (1978). The court erred in granting defendants' motions for summary judgment.
The judgment of the district court in case No. 54,357 is reversed and remanded for a trial of the issues.
During discovery plaintiff determined that two additional oil companies, Marathon Oil Company, Inc., successor to Ohio Oil Company, Inc. (Marathon), and Skelly Oil Company, Inc., now merged into Getty Oil Company (Getty), have contributed to the pollution of his fresh water well. Marathon and Skelly had conducted oil operations in the 1930's and 1940's near the present water well. On May 20, 1981, plaintiff filed a motion to amend his petition in McAlister v. Atlantic Richfield Co., by adding Marathon and Getty. The trial court ruled that the plaintiff could not amend because of the late date, but allowed the plaintiff to file a separate suit. On July 1, 1981, plaintiff filed his claim against Marathon and Getty, stating the same facts alleged in the original case. Getty filed an answer September 8, 1981, and a motion to dismiss on September 15, 1981. Marathon, prior to filing an answer, filed a motion to dismiss on September 8, 1981. Marathon and Getty each claimed that the statute of limitations, K.S.A. 60-515(a), barred plaintiff's action.
December 16, 1981, Marathon's and Getty's motions were heard by the court. The court ruled that more than two years after plaintiff was first damaged (1974), plaintiff filed his petition alleging that the damages were permanent in nature, and therefore plaintiff was barred by the two-year statute of limitations, K.S.A. 60-513(a); that Marathon's and Getty's last act that could have damaged plaintiff occurred more than ten years before plaintiff commenced this action; that assuming plaintiff's claims were true, his claims against Marathon and Getty are barred by the statute of limitations, K.S.A. 60-513(a) and (b).
Plaintiff, on January 8, 1982, filed a motion for a new trial. January 18, 1982, plaintiff filed a motion to amend his petition to claim the oil pollution damages were temporary in nature, therefore not barred by any statute of limitations.
March 11, 1982, the court heard motions in both cases filed by the plaintiff. At the hearing on the motions, all plaintiff's motions were overruled. April 7, 1982, plaintiff filed his notice of appeal *262 of the overruling of his motions for a new trial, for leave to amend his petition, for consolidation, and the court's order dismissing plaintiff's petition.
No discovery was conducted in this case. All parties to this action were familiar with discovery conducted in the companion case.
Plaintiff contends that his claim should not have been dismissed as barred by the statute of limitations where the action was filed for more than two years after plaintiff was first damaged but where plaintiff claimed temporary repeated damage to his business.
Temporary damages or continuing damages limit recovery for injury that is intermittent and occasional and the cause of the damages remediable, removable, or abatable. Damages are awarded on the theory that the cause of the injury may and will be terminated. Temporary damages are defined as damages to real estate which are recoverable from time to time as they occur from injury. 25 C.J.S., Damages § 2, p. 626.
Permanent damages are given on the theory that the cause of injury is fixed and that the property will always remain subject to that injury. Permanent damages are damages for the entire injury done  past, present and prospective  and generally speaking those which are practically irremediable. 25 C.J.S., Damages § 2, pp. 622-23. If an injury is permanent in character, all the damages caused thereby, whether past, present, or prospective, must be recovered in a single action.
Plaintiff claims a continuing wrong each time the salt water pollutants trespass onto his subsurface water. Marathon and Getty maintained oil operations that continue to allow salt brine into the equus beds, which brine continues to slowly move onto and under his land, injuring and reinjuring his land and personal business daily.
Plaintiff cites Peterson v. Texas Co., 163 Kan. 671, 186 P.2d 259 (1947), as authority. Peterson filed his first case against defendant in 1942, for damage to fresh water under plaintiff's land, damage to his basement and house foundation and his cattle, abandonment of his pasture, loss of chickens, and loss of egg production. Plaintiff was also compelled to hand carry water. Defendant operated an oil lease and allowed waste water to escape from a pond he maintained. The escaping waste water *263 caused plaintiff's injuries. In 1943 the parties settled the case.
Peterson brought a second action in 1945 against the same defendant. Peterson's second action was for damages incurred by defendant's operation of the oil lease which caused damage to the strata lying underneath his property. His well water became polluted causing him to rebuild it; he had to pump water out of his basement; additional damage was done to his farm animals; and additional loss of egg production occurred.
The court determined that each action was separate: (1) escaping surface pollution, and (2) pollution of the strata underneath Peterson's property. The second action was not barred by the statute of limitations or res judicata.
In Gowing v. McCandless, 219 Kan. 140, 547 P.2d 338 (1976), an upper landowner brought an action for damages to crops caused by the defendant's obstruction of a watercourse. The obstruction caused occasional flooding of the plaintiff's land. Schroeder, J. (now Chief Justice) stated the Kansas law on temporary damages:
Plaintiff's well has been polluted and undrinkable since 1974. Plaintiff alleges in his amended petition, seeking damages for a temporary injury, that not less than 150 years nor more than 400 years will pass before the well water will be once again fit for drinking. For all practical purposes plaintiff's damage is permanent and capable of being determined.
Correctly determining that plaintiff's action was for permanent damages as alleged in the petition, the court concluded that such claim was barred by the statute of limitations. K.S.A. 60-513(a) states in part:
....
Plaintiff's final contention is that the court erred when plaintiff was denied, by the court, leave to file an amended petition after defendants' motion to dismiss was sustained. Plaintiff filed his petition against Marathon and Getty July 1, 1981, claiming permanent damages. Getty filed its answer September 8, 1981, and a motion to dismiss on September 15, 1981. Marathon filed a motion to dismiss September 8, 1981, and never was required to file an answer because plaintiff's action was dismissed by the court December 16, 1981, his claim for permanent injury being barred by the two-year statute of limitations. K.S.A. 60-513(a). January 18, 1982, plaintiff moved to amend his petition to claim temporary damages, which amendment the trial court denied.
Plaintiff concedes under K.S.A. 60-215 he must obtain leave of the court or written consent from Getty because Getty has filed a written response (answer). Plaintiff claims he has a right to amend his petition against Marathon. Marathon has not filed a *265 responsive pleading. Marathon's motion to dismiss is not a responsive pleading. Weaver v. Frazee, 219 Kan. 42, 51, 547 P.2d 1005 (1976).
In Hoover Equipment Co. v. Smith, 198 Kan. 127, 422 P.2d 914 (1967), plaintiff filed to foreclose a mortgage. After issues were joined in the pleading, the action was dismissed by the trial court as to one defendant. Plaintiff moved to amend the pleadings. The trial court refused to allow the amendment. Justice Fromme wrote:
See United Kansas Bank & Trust Co. v. Rixner, 4 Kan. App.2d 662, 610 P.2d 116, aff'd 228 Kan. 633, 619 P.2d 1156 (1980).
A discussion of this point is contained in 6 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1483 (1971) at pp. 413-16, as follows:
Allowing plaintiff to replead his claim against Marathon could not correct the defects in his claim. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow plaintiff to amend his petition against Getty or Marathon.
The judgment is affirmed as to Marathon and Getty in case No. 54,358.