Phillips Pipe Line Co. v. United States

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

BOHANON, District Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1

This case was tried to the Court sitting without a jury, the Statute not authorizing a jury in such cases.

2

On July 13, 1965, Robert H. Smith, an independent contractor, was operating a bulldozer when the ripper on the blade struck and ruptured a ten inch crude oil pipeline which was buried less than ten inches below the surface of the ground. This pipeline was located pursuant to an easement on a farm owned by Fred R. Hirzel, Jr., and the farm was leased, although uninhabited, at the time of the accident herein.…