Opinion ID: 2616072
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Case Law on Inverse Condemnation

Text: As our previous opinion made clear, the task of the trial court is to determine whether a particular set of facts can sustain the presumption of public use created by legislative enactment. Kennedys contend that the pipeline in question is analogous to railroad lines; that natural gas resembles the resources of timber and coal; and that this court has consistently held condemnations of such easements for such resources to be unconstitutional, effectively overruling legislative pronouncements to the contrary. Gallup American Coal Co. v. Gallup Southwestern Coal Co., 39 N.M. 344, 47 P.2d 414 (1935) (coal); Threlkeld v. Third Judicial District Court, 36 N.M. 350, 15 P.2d 671 (1932) (timber). Yates responds that this Court adopted a different standard of review in Kaiser Steel Corp. v. W.S. Ranch Co., 81 N.M. 414, 467 P.2d 986 (1970), wherein we upheld the legislative presumption of a public use in the distribution of water as well-nigh conclusive. Id. at 420, 467 P.2d at 992. Kennedys respond that the Kaiser decision rests on the unique nature of the resource of water, which has been preserved specifically by provisions of our constitution, N.M. Const. art XVI, §§ 1, 2 and 3. Thus, by long standing tradition, condemnation has been allowed by this Court for storing and conveying water for irrigation purposes, because beneficial use of water is always a public use. The decision in Kaiser, the argument goes, merely extends the scope of beneficial use from irrigation to include industrial use of water. In the instant case, therefore, another way to pose the question is whether oil and gas, as substances of importance to the public, should be categorized with water rather than with other resources such as timber and coal. The trial court concluded that oil and gas production in New Mexico is comparable to metal mining in Nevada, a sine qua non of that state's formation and very existence. See Dayton Gold and Silver Mining Co. v. Seawell, 11 Nev. 394 (1876). Moreover, the extensive regulatory scheme established by the legislature demonstrates the paramount importance of efficient production and distribution of oil and gas, which are used by virtually the entire public. Indeed, if water is the life blood of our agricultural and domestic activity, so it may be said that oil and gas are the fuel that keeps our economy moving. It is more appropriate to think of both resources as resembling utilities, rather than as commodities for private consumption. The evidence before the trial court confirmed that the gas in Yates' pipeline flows into the stream of commerce, and is essential to the efficient production of oil from the Eagle Creek Field. Thus, we hold that the court was correct in concluding that this particular pipeline bears a real and substantial relation to the public use as required by statute and our case law.