Opinion
NO. 2016 CW 1633
03-02-2017
GUSTAVE J. LABARRE, JR., ET AL. v. OCCIDENTAL CHEMICAL COMPANY AND TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, LLC
In Re: Texas Brine Company, LLC, applying for supervisory writs, 23rd Judicial District Court, Parish of Assumption, No. 33796. BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C.J., PETTIGREW, McDONALD, HOLDRIDGE AND CALLOWAY, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. The district court's ruling of November 10, 2016 which granted Oil and Gas Parties' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Texas Brine Company, LLC s Special Negligence Claims Under Civil Code Articles 660 and 2322, is reversed. La. Civ. Code articles 660 and 2322 are applicable to buildings. A "building" is a type of permanent construction that would be classified as an immovable. Olsen v. Shell Oil Company, 365 So.2d 1285, 1289-1290 (La. 1978). Moreover, necessary appurtenances to structures and movables may be included within the term "building" for purposes of these articles. Id. at 1291; Broussard v. State ex rel. Office of State Buildings, 2012-1238 (La. 4/5/13), 113 So.3d 175, 182. See also La. Civ. Code articles 465 (Things incorporated into a building so as to become an integral part of it are its component parts) and 466 (Things that are attached to a building, and that, according to prevailing usages, serve to complete a building of the same general type, without regard to its specific use, are its component parts, including plumbing, heating, cooling, electrical and similar systems; Other things are component parts of a building if they are attached to such a degree that they cannot be removed without substantial damage to themselves or to the building). Courts have found similar structures to constitute buildings. See Olsen, 365 So.2d at 1290 ("[F]ixed drilling platform. . .which has a foundation in the soil, is indeed a building. . . ."); Billiot v. State of Louisiana, 94-1365 (La. App. 3d Cir. 4/12/95), 654 So.2d 753, writs denied, 95-1648, 95-1772 (La. 11/13/95), 662 So.2d 467 (Court held the term "building" encompassed abandoned well casing). The district court erred in granting the Oil and Gas Parties' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Texas Brine Company, LLC's Special Negligence Claims Under Civil Code Articles 660 and 2322. Texas Brine Company, LLC produced factual support sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact that the well and/or its appurtenances constitute a building within the meaning of La. Civ. Code articles 660 and 2322. The Oil and Gas Parties' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Regarding Texas Brine Company, LLC s Special Negligence Claims Under Civil Code Articles 660 and 2322 is denied.
JTP
CAC
VGW
McDonald, J., dissents and would deny the writ.
Holdridge, J., dissents and would deny the writ. It does not appear that the third party plaintiff has a cause of action under La. Civ. Code articles 660 or 2322 against the third party defendants. COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT /s/_________
DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT
Calloway, J., serving as judge pro tempore of the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, by special appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court.