A state appeals court has ruled against a southern Oklahoma family and an oilfield disposal services company claiming their land was left polluted by an oil spill 9 years ago, and in doing so, upheld a determination by the Corporation Commission there was no longer any pollution.
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, in making the ruling against David and Kellie Hull and Oilfield Disposal Services LLC, also upheld an Oklahoma Corporation Commission determination that as of four years ago, the spill “has been fully remediated consistent with all applicable cleanup standards, laws, rules and regulations.”
Appeals Court Judge Robert D. Bell wrote the opinion with concurrence from Judges Barbara Swinton and Brian Goree.
The Hulls had appealed a decision by Love County District Court Judge Wallace Coppedge who ruled in favor of JP Energy Marketing, LLC, Blueknight Energy Partners, LP and Coffeyville Resources Crude Transportation LLC. The landowners argued the District Judge had abused his discretion when he found the Corporation Commission’s regulatory standard was binding and that the Hulls were not entitled to injunctive relief.
The original suit was filed over a January 2015 pipeline leak that spilled about 800 barrels of crude oil onto the property of the Hulls. JP Marketing removed much of the oil but the suit argued the firm “allegedly refused to engage in any clean-up of the subsurface.” Two years later, the Corporation Commission issued a “no further action letter” stating, “it is the OCC’s conclusion that this site can be closed with No Further Action Required.”
But the Hulls maintain their property remained “heavily polluted”, and the firms were responsible for the pollution. In 2024 during an evidentiary hearing, the Hulls presented expert testimony and pictures of existing pollution on their land. But the companies presented their own expert witness evidence “showing the property is not polluted.”
