(Kilgore, TX) Jury Rules Against ATV Park Owner

A Gregg County jury Thursday sided with two companies that said activities at the Rabbit Creek ATV-RV Park were endangering pipelines and rights of way running through the park near Kilgore.

The decision clears the way for County Court at Law Judge Alfonso Charles to hold a hearing to consider granting a request from Eastman Chemical Co.-Texas Operations and Enbridge Pipelines (East Texas) for a permanent injunction to stop vehicles at the park from riding the length of the pipelines rights of way. Charles said the hearing likely will be held in the next week.

Representatives of the two companies testified earlier this week that vehicles traveling up and the down the rights of way were leaving deep ruts, which could expose the pipelines and lead to a fire, explosion, injuries or deaths. The pipelines carry natural gas, propylene, methane and other materials.

The rights of way cover about 10 acres of the 650-acre park. Riders must cross the rights of way to get to some areas of the park. A temporary injunction that's already in effect allows them to do that in designated places.

"This does not shut the park down," Oscar Still, who owns the park on leased land, said after Thursday's verdict was announced.

Eastman and Enbridge also want Still to pay for repairing the rights of way, including putting more dirt on top and planting grass.

The decision by the seven-woman, five-man jury followed three days of testimony that focused largely on photos presented by both sides.

Eastman and Enbridge presented photos that included ruts in the ground above the pipeline and all-terrain vehicle riders traveling the rights of way despite the temporary injunction.

Still's side showed photos of what he said were ruts left by Eastman's and Enbridge's mowing tractors.

The jury deliberated for about 1 1/2 hours before unanimously ruling that Still and his business have and continue to pose a threat to Eastman's and Enbridge's pipelines and that negligence damaged Eastman and Enbridge. The jury also determined that Eastman should receive $30,000 and Enbridge should receive $10,000 for damages. Charles will decide whether to award those monetary damages.

"We think it was a wise decision that will allow us to take the additional necessary legal steps to protect our pipelines," said Brian Bunt, the attorney representing Eastman and Enbridge.

Still said he would consider appealing. "We feel like it opens the door for pipeline companies to go after other landowners and to put the burden of maintenance of pipeline rights of way on landowners of Texas rather than on the pipeline companies themselves," Still said.

Bunt said his clients don't face similar problems in other parts of the state.
In closing arguments Thursday, Bunt said Eastman and Enbridge were in court because they "want to be good corporate neighbors" and want to be responsible to Gregg County residents.

Still's attorney, David Fugler, said it was the companies' responsibility to maintain the pipelines. He said they filed a lawsuit instead of building a fence to protect the rights of way so that Still would have to pay for that work.

Bunt said the companies didn't have the authority to go on the property and put up a fence wherever they want.

Friday May 19th, 2006
By Jo Lee Ferguson

Article Reference: http://www.news-journal.com/news/con...06Eastman.html

bah , screw eastman , buncha rich bastards

--- theyve been on rabbit creeks case for a couple years now ...

dude its true...i remmeber few years ago at SRR ruts were being made on top of a MAJOR water line..we were watching when a drunk busted it from bouncing trying to climb out..it was busted for several hours untill they realized it was the MAJOR water line.

eastmans pipes are buried at least 8ft under the ground...i KNOW there are no 4wheeler ruts that deep out at rabbit lol....

<--guilty of riding on the right of way lol

OK, now things like this really PISS ME OFF... this is a typical example of a company who makes far too much money (off of the public) and just by god wants some more of it. There is no way an ATV is going to make ruts deep enough to get down to those pipes... let alone break one (usually 8-10" diameter and 3/8" thick) Most ATV's would crumble before they even scratched those damn things.

Oh yeah... tell East Texas ATV riders that they can't do something.... call me and let me know how that goes for ya. Stupid.

What the hell does grass have to do with a pipeline? Why would you want any growth whatsoever over those lines? You're not gonna get grass to grow down in that bottom area anyhow because it floods. These folks need to go get a brain enema.

"12 angry idiots"

You can't place an injunction against a business (RCMMB) denying their customers the ability to do the very thing most of them come out there for (Riding the freakin pipeline). It's unconstitutional as hell, it would be like me filing an injunction against a local hotel that they couldn't rent any rooms out until they fixed the hole in the parking lot.... it just isn't right. These blasted petroleum companies have all the dang money and control our government... obviously that control isn't isolated to the executive branch.

Some of these machines can weigh in excess of 30,000 lbs. Most of them pull "wing" brushogs..... one 1/3rd of the brushog weighs more than most ATVs.

1 1/2 hours? I've taken craps that lasted longer than that! These folks went in there knowing what they were going to do to the little guy.... they were just drinking coffee and playing hacky sack like a bunch of idiots. Good grief... in an hour and a half they made a decision involving $40,000 of somebody else's money... and probly never even flinched. While I believe the entire thing is a farse.... awarding monetary damages is outrageous! If you're going to make a ruling, just order the park to replace the displaced dirt... then SHUT UP and leave them alone.

Yeah SHUT UP.... freakin corporate yuppies. Protect your pipelines huh... what they should really be worrying about are those blades under that brushog flailing wildly about.... and if there were a gas leak coming up through the ground... one lil spark from hitting a stone and POOF... that 30,000 lb. tractor is now a Marsian hood ornament.

Good ole Oscar... I hope he fights this thing to the death. He's right, they have endless resources... and this is how they attained them, by making everybody else pay for their crap.

BULLSHIT. I've been to Gator run... the pipeline is just like it, full of ruts and mud holes along the entire stretch. As soon as folks get to an East Texas ATV park.. the first thing they do is head for the major attraction of the park (pipelines and powerlines) because these places are kept cleared out and are perfect for congregating and finding an abundance of mud. If they aren't having this problem anywhere else in the state... then that must be the only pipeline they've got going through. IDIOTS.

OK, I'm back... had to go throw up. What a SAP. If they wanted to be good corporate neighbors this would have never hit the news. Address the park owner and come to a peaceful agreement without trying to collect monetary damages. They may well have approached him in the past, but I'd be willing to bet Oscar had no idea this was going to court until he was served.

And I'm quite certain if anybody could get back into the original paperwork on that pipeline... it would be in writing. Just a matter of going through the now-shredded documents foreseeing such a contingency and directing this course of action.

Once the paperwork was signed and money paid out for surface rights to bury the pipeline and allow a maintenance right of way.... that company can do pretty much whatever the hell it wants on that stretch of property. We are dealing with this crap here with local gas companies popping up natural gas wells all over the freakin area. If you don't have at least half mineral rights... you're screwed. If they intend to put pipeline down across your property... you're screwed. If you try to fight it, they'll just take you to court and politely empty your bank account into an attorney's pocket as they pay off the judge's mortgage and take away your rights to YOUR property.

And we pay taxes to facilitate this system.... NICE!

ARTICLE FROM THE KILGORE NEWS HERALD.....

ATV's out of gas At Rabbit Creek

A Gregg County jury ruled that activities at the Rabbit Creek RV park were causing damage to the pipeline right-of ways located on the park and threaten buried pipelines.

That same jury ruled that Oscar Still, owner of Rabbit Creek ATV-RV Park, should pay Eastman Chemical Company $30,000 and Enbridge Pipelines $10,000.

Still says he is still considering whether to appeal the decision and that another hearing is coming up in a few days. "I don't feel the way the decision was made it was fair," said Still. "The pipeline companies don't own the land, they don't pay taxes on the land, yet they are going to tell owners how to use - or, in this case, not use - the land."

Still said he wants everyone to know the park is still open for business with the only change being the current injunction about not riding on the rightof ways.

Still said he talked with three jurors after the trial who told him the jury was going to vote unanimously in his favor but the instructions they were given by the trial judge prevented them from doing so.

Still said the way the pipeline right-of-ways cut through the park and the decision is going to prevent him from using a great deal of his own property for his business. "The law says nothing can go below plow depth on the right-of-ways," said Still. "I don't think an ATV goes below plow depth."
Rabbit Creek is a 650-acre park that annually hosts thousands of ATV drivers. Still's annual "Muddy Gras" in February draws significant crowds, estimated at close to 4,000 people this spring.

In the case heard by Alfonso Charles, County Court at Law judge, Eastman Chemical Co Texas Operations and Enbridge Pipelines (East Texas) complained that the four-wheelers were tearing deep ruts in the pipeline rights of way and threatened to expose and weaken the pipelines. Eventually, their suit said, the pipelines could rupture. The pipelines carry natural gas, methande and other materials. Still said the rights of way, which bisect his property, cover about 10 acres of his park. He said many of the ruts were caused by tractors driven by Eastman's and Enbridge's mowing crews.

The companies have also asked for a permanent injunction prohibiting riders at the park from driving up and down the rights of way. A hearing on that injunction may be heard as early as this week.

Rabbit Creek Park stretches from Highway 259 eastward toward Highway 42 along the north edge of Kilgore. The entrance to the park is off Post Oak Road.

By Lester Murray
new2@kilgorenewsherald.com

Article Reference: http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/new..._Page/001.html