Land Owner Concedes Strict Liability Claim in Compressor Station Case
Penn State Marcellus Shale Law Blog reports that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania recently granted in part and denied in part Texas Eastern Transmission, L.P.’s motion to dismiss and or strike a personal injury complaint by a neighboring land owner. In Koziel v. Texas Eastern Transmission, L.P., the land owner alleged that he suffered severe health problems related to his hearing and sleep after he heard a high pitched noise emanating from Texas Eastern’s nearby compressor station for nearly 15 minutes. He initially claimed that Texas Eastern was liable on the basis of negligence and strict liability, but conceded his strict liability claim following Texas Eastern’s motion to dismiss. As a result, the court granted Texas Eastern’s motion to dismis the strict liability claim. The court denied Texas Eastern’s motion to strike a particular paragraph of the plaintiff’s negligence claim as moot because the allegation related solely to the period of alleged action/inaction by the operator while the noise occurred, rather than any remedial or post-incident actions or inactions.