Opinion ID: 6536714
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Natural Gas In A Pipeline May Constitute A Dump If Certain Factual Conditions Are Met.

Text: The second certified question, whether a dump or mass is created each time gas flows through a pipeline, is a closer question. Based on the statutory definition, gas constitutes a dump or mass if it: (1) has been extracted, hoisted, and raised from the mine or mining claim, (2) is in mass, and (3) is at the mine or on the mining claim or adjacent to it. 56 We hold that natural gas in a pipeline meets the first two requirements, but we leave the question whether the particular gas in Cook Inlet's pipelines is at, on, or adjacent to the mine or mining claim to the trier of fact in each case.
Gas must be extracted, hoisted, and raised from the mine or mining claim to qualify as a dump. 57 All American, Inman, and the State agree that gas in a pipeline has been extracted from the ground and hoisted and raised from its native reservoir into the pipeline. But Cook Inlet argues that gas in a pipeline does not meet this statutory requirement because pipelines are included in the definition of mine or mining claim, 58 and a dump must be extracted, hoisted, and raised from a mine or mining claim . (Emphasis in original.) Cook Inlet contends that gas must be removed from the mine, and because gas in a pipeline is still part of the mine itself, it is not a dump. Cook Inlet's argument fails to recognize either the breadth of the definition of mine or mining claim or the distinction between a dump and its location or container. The definition of mine or mining claim is broad; it includes five primary categories of property: (1) a block or parcel of mining ground; (2) all valuable mineral deposits; (3) various structures below the surface of the ground; (4) various above-ground structures affixed to the ground and used in the working, mining, and development; and (5) various appurtenances, including roads and pipelines. 59 Based on this broad definition, it is possible for a dump to be created if it is deposited on or placed in property that is itself part of the mine or mining claim. 60 For example, mineral-bearing sands piled on a parcel of mining ground 61 would qualify as a dump, as would oil pumped into a tank[ ] 62 that also happened to be affixed to the ground and used in the working, mining, and development 63 of the mine. Likewise there is no reason that gas in a pipeline cannot constitute a dump, even when the pipeline itself is part of the mine or mining claim. Cook Inlet's suggested interpretation of the statute also fails to reconcile all of the requirements in the dump definition. A dump or mass must both be extracted, hoisted, and raised from a mine or mining claim and in mass at the mine or on the mining claim or adjacent to it. 64 It thus is clear that minerals could not be entirely removed  from a mine and still constitute a dump. We instead interpret extracted, hoisted, and raised to require that minerals must cease being mineral deposits that are part of the mine, 65 not that the minerals must be removed entirely from the mine and its component parts. Gas ceases to be a mineral deposit when it is severed from the land, i.e., extracted from the soil and brought to the surface. 66 Because gas in a pipeline has been extracted from the soil and brought to the surface, it has been extracted, hoisted, and raised from a mine or mining claim.
Alaska Statute 34.35.170(a)(1) also requires gas to be in mass to constitute a dump. The statute provides that a dump is in mass ... whether it is deposited in dumps or piles, or placed in hoppers, tanks, or reservoirs, or in sluice boxes or bunkers or other receptacles. 67 Consistent with the conclusion reached by the territorial district court in Studdert v. Tanana Valley Gold Dredging Co. , we conclude that the whether clause limits the ways that a dump can be in mass to the enumerated examples. 68 The term whether, when used as a conjunction, introduces alternative possibilities that have qualifying or conditional force. 69 Following this interpretation, the only way for natural gas to be in mass would be for it either to be deposited in dumps or piles or placed in hoppers, tanks, or reservoirs, or in sluice boxes or bunkers or other receptacles. 70 Because gas has no fixed shape or volume, it cannot be deposited in a dump or pile. We must therefore determine whether natural gas pumped out of its natural reservoir into a pipeline on its way to another destination is placed into a receptacle for the statute's purposes. Cook Inlet and Gebhardt argue that a pipeline is not a receptacle containing a dump because, unlike the statute's other listed examples, a pipeline is used for transportation, not storage. A receptacle is [t]hat which receives or holds anything for rest or deposit. 71 We apply the ejusdem generis canon of construction and interpret the word receptacle in light of the characteristics of the specific terms that precede it. 72 All but one of the statute's listed receptacles primarily are used to hold or store materials. Tanks and reservoirs both are used to store liquids or gases. 73 Bunkers are large bins used to  store materials. 74 Hoppers also are bins or vessels that typically have a door or chute on the bottom that can be opened to remove their contents, and can be used for storage 75 or as a temporary holding place. 76 The outlier among the enumerated receptacles is the sluice box. Unlike the other listed receptacles, sluice boxes are used primarily to separate valuable minerals from waste minerals. 77 But like the other receptacles, they hold a quantifiable amount of materials in one place. We conclude that pipelines are sufficiently similar to tanks, reservoirs, bunkers, hoppers, and sluice boxes to qualify as receptacles. Unlike tanks, reservoirs, bunkers, and hoppers, the primary purpose of a pipeline is not to hold something, but to transport it from one place to another. 78 But the inclusion of sluice boxes in the enumerated list of receptacles indicates that a receptacle under the statute does not need to only or primarily hold its contents. In the process of conveying a gas, pipelines do hold or contain it for a brief period of time, as a receptacle would. As All American notes, it also appears that natural gas can be stored in a pipeline to enable a gas producer to respond to changes in demand. 79 In some pipeline systems, a certain level of gas must be stored in the system to maintain pressure levels. 80 The gas stored in a pipeline is called line  pack, and its volume can be calculated. 81 The incidental storage function of pipelines is similar to that of sluice boxes, which are used to separate gold from sand and gravel and likely only store the gold for a short time. Because pipelines are receptacles, we conclude that gas in a pipeline is in mass.
Gas in a pipeline also must be at the mine or mining claim or adjacent to it to qualify as a dump. 82 The statute does not clearly answer whether a large receptacle located partly on the mine, but mostly off the mine, can qualify as being at the mine or on the mining claim or adjacent to it. To determine whether a pipeline that is only partially on a mine or mining claim satisfies the requirement, courts will need to engage in a fact-specific inquiry to determine if the off-mine portions are close enough to be considered adjacent to the mine. Because neither the bankruptcy court nor the district court made findings about the exact location and size of the pipelines at issue in these cases, we leave these conclusions to the triers of fact. 83
Because gas in a pipeline has been extracted, hoisted, and raised and is in mass, it may constitute a dump if the gas is located adjacent to the mine or mining claim. This determination must be made on a case-by-case basis, 84 and we leave to the trial courts the answer whether in these cases the gas qualifies.