Odom v. Southeast Supply Header, LLC, Civil Action No. 09-0147-WS-N.
| Citation | 675 F.Supp.2d 1105 |
| Decision Date | 09 December 2009 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 09-0147-WS-N. |
| Parties | Larry A. ODOM, Sr., et al., Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants, v. SOUTHEAST SUPPLY HEADER, LLC, Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama |
John W. Parker, Daphne, AL, for Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants.
Benjamin Young Ford, Duane A. Graham, Scott G. Brown, Armbrecht Jackson LLP, Mobile, AL, for Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff.
This matter comes before the Court on the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (doc. 23) filed by defendant/counter-plaintiff, Southeast Supply Header, LLC ("SESH"), and on the Motion to Strike Affidavit of Katherine J. Maidens (doc. 44) filed by plaintiffs/counter-defendants, Larry and Judy Odom (the "Odoms"). Both Motions have been briefed and are now ripe for disposition.
This lawsuit arises from an easement agreement entered into between SESH and the Odoms, pursuant to which SESH was authorized to install a natural gas pipeline some 8 feet below the surface of the Odoms' property. The Odoms allege that SESH placed the pipeline in the wrong location, and refused to reposition it when the error was discovered. Plaintiffs maintain that the result of SESH's conduct (which plaintiffs characterize as deliberate, intentional or reckless) is that a strip of "no-man's land" has been created on the Odoms' property, diminishing the value of such property and causing plaintiffs to suffer mental anguish. Thus, the gravamen of the wrong about which the Odoms are complaining is that SESH has created a swath of land on their property that the Odoms cannot use because it is trapped between two easements that were supposed to be contiguous.
On the basis of these facts, the Odoms filed their Complaint (doc. 1) against SESH in this District Court.1 The Complaint alleges four overlapping state-law causes of action against SESH, to-wit: (1) a claim of fraud predicated on SESH's representations "that the SESH pipeline would be adjacent to and contiguous to the southern boundary of the existing Gateway pipeline" (Complaint, ¶ 10); (2) a claim of continuing trespass arising from SESH's installation of its pipeline in the improper location; (3) a claim of nuisance based on SESH's installation of its pipeline in a manner "which causes the Plaintiffs to lose a piece of property spanning from tw [sic] (2) to seven (7) feet between the northern boundary of the SESH easement and the southern boundary of the Gateway easement" (id., ¶ 17); and (4) an inverse condemnation claim that SESH violated the Alabama Eminent Domain Code, Ala.Code §§ 18-1A-1 et seq., by converting the Odoms' property "into a right-of-way without authority for SESH without compensation" (id., ¶ 20). As to the fraud, trespass and nuisance causes of action, the Odoms seek "compensatory damages consisting of diminution in value to their real estate and mental anguish damages" (id. at 5-6) for the property that SESH allegedly took from them by placing the pipeline in the wrong location. Plaintiffs also demand statutory damages on the inverse condemnation claim.
Pursuant to Rule 13, Fed.R.Civ.P., SESH brought a Counterclaim (doc. 9) against the Odoms. In Count One of the Counterclaim, SESH requests a declaratory judgment "that the SESH pipeline has been constructed in a location permitted by the Easement Agreement and that SESH has complied with the terms of the Easement Agreement" (doc. 9, at 12-13). In Count Two, SESH alternatively requests entry of a judgment reforming the easement instrument in such a manner as to eliminate discrepancies between the parties' understanding and the terms of that instrument. Count Three of the Counterclaim alleges abuse of process by Mr. Odom, contending that his activities up to and including his prosecution of this lawsuit "are and have been intended to cause needless expense and harassment to SESH" (id., ¶ 23).
SESH now seeks summary judgment in its favor as to Counts One or Two of the Counterclaim, as well as on all of the Odoms' claims in the Complaint. SESH does not move for summary judgment as to Count Three of the Counterclaim.
The summary judgment record is largely underdeveloped.3 Fortunately, the basic underlying facts appear to be both straightforward and undisputed. There is no disagreement that SESH owns and operates a 269-mile long interstate gas pipeline running from northeastern Louisiana into this judicial district, and that construction of this pipeline was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"). Likewise, it appears agreed that one or both of the Odoms own two parcels of property in Mobile County, Alabama, that lie along the pipeline route, thereby obliging SESH to acquire an easement from them before installing the pipeline across those parcels.4 It is also uncontroverted that the Odoms did in fact grant an easement to SESH in December 2007, in exchange for total consideration of $120,000.5
Pursuant to their agreement with SESH, the Odoms executed a Grant of Easement (the "Easement") in SESH's favor on December 28, 2007. The Easement grants a permanent right-of-way to SESH, with the location established by reference to an existing permanent easement on the same property. In particular, the Odoms already had granted an unrelated easement (the "Gateway Easement") to another company back in September 1991 on the same parcels for placement of an another pipeline. The Easement granted by the Odoms to SESH provided for the easement to be positioned as follows:
"The Right-of-Way herein granted shall be a total width of fifty feet (50'), extending twenty-five feet (25') on either side of the centerline of the initial pipeline to be constructed hereunder as shown on the drawings attached hereto..., The location of said Right-of-Way shall be fixed and determined by the initial pipeline as installed on Grantor's Land, but it will, within a limited margin of error, be located so that one entire edge of the Right-of-Way shall be adjacent and parallel to the current boundary of the permanent easement of the existing pipeline ... on the Grantor's Land...."
(Maidens Aff., Exh. A, at 2 (emphasis added).) The phrase "within a limited margin of error" is not a defined term in the Easement and no clues as to its intended meaning are set forth in that document.6
On its face, then, the Easement contemplated that SESH would install the pipeline in such a manner that its centerline would be 25 feet from the boundary of the Gateway Easement, with allowance for "a limited margin of error," whatever that means. SESH's right-of-way would then extend 25 feet from either side of the centerline of its pipeline. If SESH lined up the centerline exactly 25 feet from the edge of the Gateway Easement, then there would be no unusable strips of "no man's land" in between the two easements. Avoidance of such gaps appears to have been of central importance to the Odoms.
Defendant's counsel represents, with no citations to the record, that "pipeline construction cannot be that precise" because of the width of the pipe, the variable nature of the landscape, the heavy machinery used, and confusion as to the exact boundary of the Gateway Easement. (Doc. 24, at 3.) In the absence of any record basis for these statements, however, the Court cannot make any determinations as to the ease or difficulty of the pipe-installation endeavor and the degree of imprecision that it entails.7 Be that as it may, the record is clear that SESH did not attain 25-foot precision of centerline to edge of Gateway Easement in installing the pipeline across the Odoms' property. Land surveys commissioned by SESH after the fact clearly display a gap between the two easements, progressively widening from 1.35 feet at the southeastern corner of the Odoms' parcel northwest of Dawes Road, to as wide as 5.23 feet at the northwestern corner of that parcel. 8
Based on the observed, documented gap between the two easements, the Odoms filed suit. Their Complaint provides that the harms for which the Odoms seek compensation (on theories of fraud, trespass, nuisance and inverse condemnation) are confined to "[l]oss of use and/or value of the properties that has [sic] been rendered a no man's land by and between the SESH easement and the Gateway easement" and "severe inconvenience and mental anguish due to the fact that representations were made to them which they relied on in good faith in the course of negotiations with SESH and ... SESH ... has ignored the Plaintiffs' request to rectify this situation." (Complaint, ¶ 11(a)-(b).)9
Defendant now seeks summary judgment on two grounds. First, SESH maintains that the pipeline was constructed in accordance with the Easement and that it is entitled to a declaration on this point, as a matter of law. Second, in the alternative, SESH contends that it is entitled to summary judgment on its reformation claim because the parties' mutual intent was for the 50-foot right-of-way to be adjacent to the Gateway Easement. SESH maintains that reformation of the Easement to correct the mistake in the instrument would resolve all of the Odoms' claims herein.
Summary judgment should be granted only if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Rule 56(c)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P. The party seeking summary judgment bears "the initial burden to show the district court, by reference to materials on file, that there are no genuine issues of material fact that should be decided at trial." Clark v. Coats & Clark, Inc., 929 F.2d 604, 608 (11th Cir.1991). Once the moving party has satisfied its responsibility, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to show the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Crabtree v. Volkert, Inc.
...and the termination decision - never made by the witnesses' testimony itself. This is improper. See Odom v. Southeast Supply Header, LLC, 675 F. Supp.2d 1105, 1110 n.3 (S.D. Ala. 2009) (noting impropriety of counsel including in their factual recitations certain "facts" not supported by rec......
-
SE Prop. Holdings, LLC v. Rookery
...judgment, in the absence of citations to evidence that might reasonably support it. See generally Odom v. Southeast Supply Header, LLC, 675 F. Supp.2d 1105, 1110 n.3 (S.D. Ala. 2009) (observing that counsel may not include in factual recitations certain "facts" not supported by record citat......
-
Chicago Title Ins. Co. v. Prosch
...is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court." J & M Bail Bonding, 748 So.2d at 199. Odom v. Southeast Supply Header, LLC, 675 F.Supp.2d 1105, 1120 (S.D. Ala. 2009). Defendant has not pointed to any acts by Chicago Title or Washington Mutual which could be considered willful m......