A railroad and an oil drilling firm at war legally—and apparently physically—over 2,450 acres in Livonia are headed to court-ordered settlement negotiations in New Orleans next week.
Union Pacific Railroad Co. and WarHorse Oil & Gas of Jarreau continue to fight over their respective property and mineral rights on the site where the railroad has begun building a SIT yard to store railcars containing products from local producers. It will include 21 yard tracks and two wye, or triangular junction, tracks. WarHorse has drilled one well on the site and has plans for two more.
In one of its latest court filings, Union Pacific alleges that WarHorse last week drove two bulldozers onto the SIT yard and moved dirt on the construction site, refilling ditches that Union Pacific had been built as part of the project. William Howard III, an attorney for the railroad, says its general contractor will have to “redo the work that WarHorse has undone, which, in addition to adding costs for redoing the work, may also lead to delays that could result in changed work orders and increased costs.”
For its part, WarHorse—whose officers are Steven and Jana Kent—alleges in its own court filing that in August, Union Pacific or its contractors “bulldozed” the locations it had staked and surveyed for its drilling sites and “dug a ditch through both proposed well sites,” costing the company money to survey and stake the sites a second time.
WarHorse argues that it has obtained permits to drill its two additional wells—a contention backed by a letter in the court record from Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh. But in a new filing, Union Pacific argues that the federal preemption clause bars state regulation of rail transportation—including construction or operation of a yard, tracks, storage or other facilities or equipment involving the movement of property by rail.
“To the extent that WarHorse relies on whatever authority arises under the state drilling permits,” Howard writes, “this is a form of state regulation … [that] would obstruct the railroad’s federal obligation to service its shippers.”
The settlement conference is scheduled for Nov. 3 before Magistrate Judge Michael North.
—Penny Font
