Comer v. Murphy Oil USA

598 F.3d 208 (2010)

Ned COMER; Brenda Comer; Eric Haygood, husband of Brenda Haygood; Brenda Haygood; Larry Hunter, husband of Sandra L. Hunter; Sandra L. Hunter; Mitchell Kisielweski, husband of Johanna Kisielweski; Johanna Kisielweski; Elliott Roumain, husband of Rosemary Roumain; Rosemary Roumain; Judy Olson; David Lain, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
MURPHY OIL USA; Universal Oil Products (UOP); Shell Oil Company; Exxonmobil Corp.; AES Corp.; Allegheny Energy, Inc.; Alliance Resource Partners LP; Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.; Arch Coal, Inc.; BP America Production Company; BP Products North America, Inc.; Cinergy Corp.; Conocophillips Company; Consol Energy, Inc.; The Dow Chemical Company; Duke Energy Corp.; Eon AG; E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.; Entergy Corp.; Firstenergy Corp.; Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc.; FPL Group, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; International Coal Group, Inc.; Massey Energy Co.; Natural Resource Partners LP; Peabody Energy Corp.; Reliant Energy, Inc.; Tennessee Valley Authority; Westmoreland Coal Co.; Xcel Energy, Inc.; Chevron USA, Inc.; The American Petroleum Institute, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 07-60756.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

February 26, 2010.

F. Gerald Maples (argued), Carl Dwight Campbell, III, Machelle Rae Lee Hall, F. Gerald Maples, P.A., Carlos A. Zelaya, II, Maples & Kirwan, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Kerry J. Miller, Benjamin Melvin Castoriano, Paul C, Thibodeaux, Frilot, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, Shellye V. McDonald, Richard Patrick Salloum, Franke & Salloum, P.L.L.C., Gulfport, MS, for Murphy Oil USA, Universal Oil Products and Honeyell Intern., Inc.

Michael Raudon Phillips, Louis Matthew Grossman, Anthony Michael Williams, Kean, Miller, Hawthorne, D'Armond, McCowan & Jarman, L.L.P., New Orleans, LA, for Universal Oil Products and Honeywell Intern., Inc.

Mary S. Johnson, Johnson Gray McNamara, L.L.C., Mandeville, LA, Daniel Paul Collins, Munger, Tolles & Olson, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, David Lee Martindale, Cypress, TX, Thomas M. McNamara, Johnson, Gray, McNamara, L.L.C., Lafayette, LA, for Shell Oil Co. and Chevron USA, Inc.

Richard L. Forman, Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz & Taedy, L.L.P., Jackson, MS, John F. Daum, O'Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles, CA, Thomas Lynn Carpenter, Carr, Allison, Pugh, Howard, Oliver & Sisson, P.C., Gulfport, MS, Rick Richmond, Brent L. Caslin, Kenneth Kiyul Lee, Kelly Marie Morrison, Jenner & Block, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, for ExxonMobil Corp.

William Lee Watt, Christopher Ray Fontan, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, P.L.L.C., Jackson, MS, for Allegheny Energy, Inc. and Reliant Energy, Inc.

Kathleen Taylor Sooy, Tracy Roman, Scott L. Winkelman (argued), Crowell & Moring, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Robert Donald Gholson, Gholson, Burson, Entrekin & Orr, P.A., Laurel, MS, for Alliance Resource Partners, LP, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., Arch Coal, Inc., Consol. Energy, Inc., Found. Coal Holdings, Inc., Intern. Coal Group, Inc., Massey Energy Co., Natural Resource Partners LP, Peabody Energy Corp. and Westmoreland Coal Co.

Michael B. Gerrard, Nancy Gordon Milburn, Arnold & Porter, L.L.P., New York City, John Gwin Wheeler, Mitchell, McNutt & Sams, P.A., Tupelo, MS, for BP America Production Co. and BP Products North America, Inc.

Peter D. Keisler, Quin Mikael Sorenson, Sidley Austin, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Cinergy Corp. and Duke Energy Corp.

Kenneth W. Barton, Benjamin McRae Watson, Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, P.L.L.C., Ridgeland, MS, for ConocoPhillips Co.

Timothy S. Bishop, Justin Bishop Grewell, Herbert L. Zarov, Mayer Brown, L.L.P., Chicago, IL, Ronald G. Peresich, Michael Edward Whitehead, Page, Mannino, Peresich & McDermott, P.L.L.C., Biloxi, MS, Charles, Stephen Kelley, Mayer Brown, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Dow Chemical Co.

Raymond Michael Ripple, Donna L. Goodman, DuPont Legal, Wilmington, DE, Lawrence E. Abbott, Abbott, Simses & Kuchler, Covington, LA, for E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.

Charles Edwin Ross, William B. Lovett, Jr., Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway, P.A., Jackson, MS, for Entergy Corp.

Edwin Warren Small, Asst. Gen. Counsel, TVA, Knoxville, TN, for TVA.

Thomas E. Fennell, Michael L. Rice, Jones Day, Dallas, TX, John G. Corlew, Kathy K. Smith, Corlew, Munford & Smith, P.L.L.C, Jackson, MS, Kevin Patrick Holewinski, Jones Day, Washington, DC, for Xcel Energy, Inc.

Robert E. Meadows, Jonathan Lawrence Marsh, Tracie Jo Renfroe, King & Spalding, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Chevron USA, Inc.

Robert Allen Long, Jr., Covington & Burling, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for American Petroleum Institute.

Raymond Bernard Ludwiszewski, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Ellen J. Gleberman, Ass'n of Intern. Auto. Mfrs., Arlington, VA, for Ass'n of Intern. Auto. Mfrs., Inc., Amicus Curiae.

Edgar Robert Haden, Michael David Freeman, Balch & Bingham, L.L.P., Birmingham, AL, F. William Brownell, Hunton, & Williams, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Mark, Wendell DeLaquil, David Boris Rivkin, Jr., Baker & Hostetler, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Jonathan Paul Dyal, Ben H. Stone, Balch & Bingham, L.L.P., Gulfport, MS, Norman, W. Fichthorn, Allison, D. Wood, Hunton & Williams, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Douglas Alton Henderson, Troutman Sanders, Atlanta, GA, Shawn Patrick Regan, Hunton & Williams, L.L.P, New York City, for Edison Elec. Institute, American Pub. Power Ass'n, Nat. Rural Elec. Co-op. Ass'n, Am. Farm Bur. Fed. Nat. Ass'n of Mfrs., and Am. Tort Reform Ass'n, Amici Curiae.

Before JOLLY, DAVIS, SMITH, STEWART, DENNIS, CLEMENT, PRADO, OWEN and ELROD, Circuit Judges.^[1]

BY THE COURT:

A member of the court having requested a poll on the petitions for rehearing en banc, and a majority of the circuit judges in regular active service and not disqualified having voted in favor,

It is ordered that this cause shall be reheard by the court en banc with oral argument on a date hereafter to be fixed. The Clerk will specify a briefing schedule for the filing of supplemental briefs.

NOTES

[1] Chief Judge Jones, and Judges King, Wiener, Garza, Benavides, Southwick and Haynes are recused and did not participate.