Appeal planned in spill suit's tossing

Property owners along Exxon pipeline sought class action

Attorneys said Thursday that they plan to appeal a federal judge's decision dismissing a class-action lawsuit over the shuttered Pegasus pipeline.

Attorneys for Charletha and Arnez Harper and Rudy and Betty Webb filed a notice saying they intend to appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Brian Miller to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal also will cover certain other relevant rulings.

In August 2014, Miller granted class-action status to the Harpers of Mayflower but not to the Webbs, who live in Conway but own property in Mayflower, the site of a 2013 oil spill.

Exxon Mobil's Pegasus pipeline ruptured in Mayflower's Northwoods subdivision on March 29, 2013, and spilled tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude oil. Miller held that the Harpers could legally represent people who own property that is subject to an easement from the pipeline and that is physically crossed by the line.

In March, though, Miller reversed his earlier ruling.

In concluding he had made a mistake, Miller dismissed the case and decertified the class. In doing so, he said easement contracts alone do not require Exxon Mobil to maintain its crude-oil pipeline, which runs through Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Property owned by those suing was not among the homes or land damaged by the Mayflower oil spill. Exxon Mobil shut down the Pegasus pipeline, built in 1947-48, shortly after the accident.

In his decision, Miller said he had to rely on the law, even if the result "does not seem fair."

The class likely would have included thousands of property owners from all four states.

The lawsuit applied to the Pegasus pipeline's 650-mile northern section, which includes the Mayflower segment. The pipeline's remaining 211-mile portion runs from Corsicana, Texas, to Nederland, Texas, and has resumed service.

State Desk on 08/21/2015

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