Kennecott Corp. v. Union Oil Co.

Opinion

BUTLER, J.

—The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) owns land in the Imperial Valley underlying which are mineral deposits and geothermal formations capable of producing steam convertible into electric energy. IID as lessor leased 280 acres of such land to a lessee for production of steam and minerals. The lessee assigned the leasehold interest to Imperial Thermal Products (ITP). ITP then assigned to Southern Pacific Land Company (Southern) its rights to produce steam from the land and to dispose of the wastes from such production. Southern later assigned those rights such that Union Oil…