A federal judge Friday denied a request that he alter or amend his decision dismissing a class-action lawsuit against Exxon Mobil over its Pegasus crude-oil pipeline.
In March, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller dismissed the lawsuit filed in response to a March 2013 oil spill in Mayflower on behalf of landowners whose property is physically crossed by the now-shuttered Pegasus pipeline from Corsicana, Texas, to Patoka, Ill.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs wanted Miller to vacate his order because they contended the oil giant had earlier suppressed evidence involving interference with property owned by the plaintiffs. They said that evidence, filed under seal, "would probably result in a different outcome."
In his order Friday, Miller wrote in part that, "crucially, the new evidence which plaintiffs seek to introduce does not address the issue that was the heart of the March 17, 2015, order: plaintiffs have not suffered any actual damages."
"As noted in the order, plaintiffs are not the citizens of Mayflower whose property was subject to damage due to the pipeline rupture," he added. "They suffered no discoloration, smelled no fumes, and had no oil leakage on their property. ... Thus, as the evidence plaintiffs seek to introduce does not address this pivotal issue, it will not produce a different result."
Tom Thrash, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said last week that should Miller deny the plaintiffs' motion, they would appeal.
The Pegasus pipeline, built in 1947-48, cracked open March 29, 2013, in Mayflower's Northwoods subdivision, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude into the neighborhood, drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway. The main 650-mile section of the pipeline remains shut down.
State Desk on 07/26/2015