Amoco Pipeline Co. v. Minnesota Valley Landscaping, Inc.

KEITH, Chief Justice.

The issue in this case is whether Minn. Stat. § 1161.07, subd. 1 shields the appellants from liability for damages caused when employees of Minnesota Valley Landscaping, Inc., while excavating trees on property owned by the Young Men’s Christian Association of Minneapolis, Minnesota, ruptured a pipeline owned by Amoco Pipeline Company. We hold that the statute does not provide such protection in this case and affirm the court of appeals.

In 1963, the Young Men’s Christian Association of Metropolitan Minneapolis (YMCA) received a donation of farmland southwest of…