Ballard Fish & Oyster Company, Inc. v. Glaser Construction Company, Inc., and Commonwealth Natural Gas Corporation

BUTZNER, Circuit Judge:

Ballard Fish and Oyster Co., Inc., brought this action against Glaser Construction Co., Inc., and Commonwealth Natural Gas Corporation for damages caused by laying a gas pipeline through Ballard’s oyster bed in the James River. The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that Ballard’s complaint against Commonwealth did not present a federal question. We reverse.

Ballard’s complaint contains two counts. The first, based on diversity of citizenship, is not at issue here. It charges that Glaser, a…