Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC v. Texas Brine Company, LLC ( 2019 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST CIRCUIT
NO. 2018 CA 1714
FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION COMPANY, LLC
VERSUS
TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, LLC
Judgment Rendered:
NOV l 5 2019
On Appeal from the
23rd Judicial District Court
In and for the Parish of Assumption
State of Louisiana
Trial Court No. 34, 316
Honorable Thomas J. Kliebert, Jr., Judge Presiding
Leopold Z. Sher Attorneys for Appellant/ Defendant,
James M. Garner Third -Party Plaintiff,
Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Texas Brine Company, LLC
Jeffrey D. Kessler
New Orleans, LA
Travis J. Turner
Gonzales, LA
Robert Ryland Percy, III
Gonzales, LA
Dane S. Ciolino
Metairie, LA
Joseph L. Shea, Jr. Attorneys for Appellee/ Third-Party Defendant,
Katherine Smith Baker Reliance Petroleum Corporation
Ashley G. Gable
Joshua S. Chevallier
Shreveport, LA
Matthew J. Randazzo, III Attorneys for Appellees/ Third-Party Defendants,
Christopher B. Bailey LORCA Corporation and Colorado Crude
Will Montz Company
Lafayette, LA
Frank H. Spruiell, Jr. Attorneys for Appellee/ Third-Party Defendant,
Reid A. Jones Sol Kirschner
Seth M. Moyers
Shreveport, LA
Martin A. Stern Attorneys for Appellees/Defendants,
Leigh Ann Schell Occidental Chemical Corporation, Occidental
Raymond P. Ward Petroleum Corporation, Basic Chemicals
Sara Valentine Company, LLC, and Occidental VCM, LLC
Alexandra Roselli
New Orleans, LA
Kathy Patrick
Angus J. Dodson
Laura Kissel Cassidy
Houston, TX
BEFORE: HIGGINBOTHAM, I PENZATO, AND LANIER, JJ.
1 Judge Toni Manning Higginbotham was not present at the oral argument of this case; however,
she participated in deliberations via a recording of the hearing.
2
HIGGINBOTHAM, J.
This is one of several lawsuits connected to the sinkhole litigation that
originated in Assumption Parish. Following the development of a sinkhole in
August 2012, Florida Gas Transmission Company filed suit against Texas Brine
Company, LLC, alleging Texas Brine' s salt mining operations at the OG3 brine well
caused the sinkhole and damaged Florida Gas' s nearby pipelines. Texas Brine filed
several incidental demands asserting both tort and contract claims against various
parties, including the non -operators of a nearby oil and gas well known as the AHI
well.
The pertinent third -party defendant non -operators consist of Sol Kirschner,
LORCA Corporation, Colorado Crude Company, and Reliance Petroleum
Corporation and its insurer, Chicago Insurance Company.
The non -operators filed motions for summary judgment seeking dismissal of
Texas Brine' s third -party tort and contract claims. The district court granted the
motions and dismissed all of Texas Brine' s third -party tort claims against the non -
operators on August 23, 2017, and the third -party breach of contract claims against
the non -operators in a separate judgment on September 20, 2017. In this case, Texas
Brine appealed both judgments in one motion for appeal, which was granted by the
district court on June 18, 2018. This court, however, lodged the appeals separately
under docket number 2018 CA 1714 for the August 23, 2017 tort judgment and under
docket number 2018 CA 1778 for the September 20, 2017 contract judgment.
On December 20, 2018, this court, ex proprio motu, issued a Show Cause
Order concerning the apparent untimeliness of Texas Brine' s motion for devolutive
appeal of the district court' s August 23, 2017 summary judgment dismissing Texas
Brine' s tort claims against the non -operators of the AHI well. On March 22, 2019,
another panel of this court referred the show cause/ timeliness issue to this merits
panel, assigned to hear this appeal. We find that it is unnecessary to decide whether
Texas Brine' s appeal of the dismissal of its third -party tort claims against the non -
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operators is timely, because that issue is now moot. This court recently decided in
Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC v. Texas Brine Company, LLC,
2018- 0549 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 7/ 1/ 19), 2019 WL 2723560, * 1; Crosstex Energy
Services, LP v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 0749 ( La. App. 1st Cir.
2/ 27/ 19), 2019 WL 969564, * 1; and Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas
Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 0606 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 12/ 21/ 18), 268 So. 3d 1058,
1063- 64, writ denied, 2019- 0526 ( La. 6/ 17/ 19), 273 So. 3d 1210, that the district
court did not err in dismissing all of Texas Brine' s third -party tort claims against
each of the non -operators in the various pipeline lawsuits. After a thorough review
of the record, we find no material distinction between the evidence and arguments
asserted in each of these proceedings.
Moreover, we have determined that this particular appeal is a duplicate of
Texas Brine' s appeal filed in the above -referenced Florida Gas case, docket number
2018 CA 0549. Therefore, we dismiss this appeal under docket number 2018 CA
1714, as moot. Further, while we grant Texas Brine' s pending motion to withdraw
counsel as was done in similar sinkhole cases, we find that the rule to show cause
timeliness issue and any other pending motions in this particular appeal are also
moot.
See Crosstex Energy Services v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2018- 1189
La. App. 1st Cir. 2/ 27/ 19), 2019 WL 966910, * 1. We issue this summary
disposition in accordance with Uniform Rules —Courts of Appeal, Rule 2- 16. 2( A)(2)
and ( 3). All costs of this appeal are assessed to Texas Brine Company, LLC.
MOTION TO WITHDRAW GRANTED; RULE TO SHOW CAUSE,
APPEAL AND ALL OTHER PENDING MOTIONS DISMISSED AS MOOT.
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