Opinion
2018 CA 0749
02-27-2019
CROSSTEX ENERGY SERVICES, LP; CROSSTEX LIG, LLC; AND CROSSTEX PROCESSING SERVICES, LLC v. TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, LLC; ZURICH AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY; AND AMERICAN GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY
Leopold Z. Sher James M. Garner Peter L. Hilbert Jr. Neal J. Kling Jeffrey D. Kessler Amanda R. Schenck New Orleans, Louisiana and Robert Ryland Percy III Gonzales, Louisiana and Theodore L. Jones Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Eric J. Mayer Houston, Texas and Travis J. Turner Gonzales, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Plaintiff/Appellant Texas Brine Company, LLC Joseph L. Shea Jr. Katherine Smith Baker Ashley G. Gable Joshua S. Chevallier Shreveport, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee Reliance Petroleum Corporation Matthew J. Randazzo III Christopher B. Bailey Will Montz Lafayette, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendants/Appellees LORCA Corporation and Colorado Crude Company Frank H. Spruiell Jr. Reid A. Jones Seith M. Moyers Shreveport, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee Sol Kirschner Sidney W. Degan III Julia A. Dietz Wade B. Hammett Matthew F. Morgan New Orleans, Louisiana and Catherine N. Thigpen Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee Chicago Insurance Company Kathy Patrick Angus J. Dodson Laura J. Kissel Houston, Texas and Martin A. Stern Leigh Ann Schell Raymond P. Ward Sara Valentine Alexandra Roselli New Orleans, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendants/Appellees Occidental Chemical Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Basic Chemicals Company, LLC, and Occidental VCM, LLC
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
APPEALED FROM THE 23RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
ASSUMPTION PARISH, LOUISIANA
DOCKET NUMBER 34,202 HONORABLE THOMAS J. KLIEBERT JR., JUDGE PRESIDING Leopold Z. Sher
James M. Garner
Peter L. Hilbert Jr.
Neal J. Kling
Jeffrey D. Kessler
Amanda R. Schenck
New Orleans, Louisiana
and
Robert Ryland Percy III
Gonzales, Louisiana
and
Theodore L. Jones
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
and
Eric J. Mayer
Houston, Texas
and
Travis J. Turner
Gonzales, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Plaintiff/Appellant
Texas Brine Company, LLC Joseph L. Shea Jr.
Katherine Smith Baker
Ashley G. Gable
Joshua S. Chevallier
Shreveport, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee
Reliance Petroleum Corporation Matthew J. Randazzo III
Christopher B. Bailey
Will Montz
Lafayette, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendants/Appellees
LORCA Corporation and Colorado Crude
Company Frank H. Spruiell Jr.
Reid A. Jones
Seith M. Moyers
Shreveport, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee
Sol Kirschner Sidney W. Degan III
Julia A. Dietz
Wade B. Hammett
Matthew F. Morgan
New Orleans, Louisiana
and
Catherine N. Thigpen
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendant/Appellee
Chicago Insurance Company Kathy Patrick
Angus J. Dodson
Laura J. Kissel
Houston, Texas
and
Martin A. Stern
Leigh Ann Schell
Raymond P. Ward
Sara Valentine
Alexandra Roselli
New Orleans, Louisiana Attorneys for Third Party Defendants/Appellees
Occidental Chemical Corporation,
Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Basic
Chemicals Company, LLC, and
Occidental VCM, LLC BEFORE: McDONALD, CRAIN, and HOLDRIDGE, JJ. McDONALD, J.
This suit is one of many arising from an August 2012 sinkhole that appeared near Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. In this appeal, Texas Brine Company, LLC, the operator of the Oxy Geismar #3 brine well (OG3 well), challenges the summary judgment dismissal of its third-party tort claims, including those for indemnity and contribution, against the non-operators of the nearby Adams Hooker #1 oil and gas well (AH1 well). The dismissed AH1 well non-operators are LORCA Corporation, Colorado Crude Company, Sol Kirschner, Reliance Petroleum Corporation and its insurer, Chicago Insurance Company (non-operators).
In their original petition, the plaintiffs in this case, multiple Crosstex entities, named Texas Brine Company, LLC, as the defendant who operated the OG3 well. In later pleadings, the Crosstex entities additionally named other parties allegedly related to Texas Brine Company, LLC, as defendants. Here, we refer to the defendants, herein third-party plaintiffs, collectively as Texas Brine.
We address Texas Brine's challenge to the summary judgment dismissal of its third-party contract claims against certain non-operators of the AH1 well under our docket number 2018 CA 1213.
We note that a duplicate appeal of this one exists under Crosstex Energy Services, LP., et al. v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, et al., 2018 CA 1189, which we also decide today.
Another panel of this court recently decided a similar appeal in Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 18-0606 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/21/18), ___ So.3d ___. Although the Pontchartrain case involves a different plaintiff than here, the Pontchartrain summary judgment dismissed similar Texas Brine third-party demands against the same AH1 well non-operators that Texas Brine challenges here.
After a thorough review of the record, we find no material differences between this appeal and the Pontchartrain appeal, which we are bound to follow as the law of this circuit. See Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 18-0001 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/4/18), 253 So.3d 156, writ denied, 18-1124 (La. 9/28/18), 253 So.3d 147. Thus, the trial court's August 28, 2017 judgment dismissing Texas Brine's third-party demands for pre-1996 and post-1996 tort claims, as well as indemnity and contribution claims, against LORCA Corporation, Colorado Crude Company, Sol Kirschner, Reliance Petroleum Corporation, and Chicago Insurance Company is affirmed. We assess all costs of this appeal to Texas Brine. We issue this summary disposition in accordance with Uniform Rules - Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-16.2A(2) and (6).
In a rehearing application, Texas Brine argued that the Pontchartrain court incorrectly evaluated its summary judgment evidence. Although we note that Michael Veazey's affidavit was proper summary judgment evidence, we agree with the Pontchartrain court's conclusion that his opinion is "wholly irrelevant as to any actions or omissions by the non-operators of the [AH1 well]." Pontchartrain, 2018 WL 6718522 *4. --------
AFFIRMED. HOLDRIDGE, J., dissents.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. I would stay this matter until the decision in Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas Brine Co., LLC, 18-0606 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/21/18), ___ So.3d ___, becomes final and definitive. See La. C.C.P. art. 2167.