8th Circuit denies Exxon Mobil plea

Class-action status in oil spill stands

A federal appeals court Tuesday denied Exxon Mobil's request to appeal a federal judge's decision to grant class-action status to a couple suing over an oil spill in Mayflower last year.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said in its written judgment that it had considered Exxon Mobil's petition to appeal and was denying it. The court did not comment further in its ruling.

U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ruled in Little Rock on Aug. 12 that Arnez and Charletha Harper of Mayflower could legally represent people who currently own property that is subject to an easement for the Pegasus pipeline and that is physically crossed by the pipeline running from Corsicana, Texas, to Patoka, Ill.

The Harpers and another couple had joined in suing after the pipeline ruptured on March 29, 2013, and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude into Mayflower's Northwoods neighborhood. Oil also spread into drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.

The Harpers' lawsuit seeks either cancellation of the easements and removal of the pipeline from their property or a requirement that Exxon replace the pipeline.

"The Eighth Circuit's remarkably swift decision confirms that Judge Miller was correct in concluding that persons with the Pegasus Pipeline on their property may collectively seek to ensure that Exxon lives up to its responsibilities under state property and contract law to repair and maintain the pipeline," Marcus Bozeman, one of the attorneys for the lawsuit's plaintiffs, said in an email after he learned of the appeals court's ruling Tuesday.

"It also speaks volumes that the Eighth Circuit rejected Exxon's argument that the doctrine of preemption excuses the company from following through with obligations it voluntarily assumed under Arkansas property and contract law," Bozeman added.

In seeking an appeal, Exxon Mobil had argued that federal law "expressly pre-empts state safety standards for interstate pipeline transportation."

Exxon Mobil spokesman Christian Flathman did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Asked if Exxon Mobil has any further appeal recourse if it chooses, Bozeman said the company "could, conceivably, petition the United States Supreme Court to issue a writ of certiorari in the case." Such a writ allows a court to "call up for review the record of a proceeding" in a lower court, according to The Free Dictionary, an online site.

State Desk on 09/17/2014

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