Murfee v. Phillips Petroleum Company

OPINION

WARD, Justice.

This is a water pollution case filed by the appellants as owners of the surface estate of a seven section ranch against the four appellees who were the oil and gas *670lessees and producers thereon. The action was for depreciated market value of the land, due to negligence and proximate cause for the salt water pollution of the underground water supply caused by the lessees’ disposal of produced brine in unlined earthen surface disposal pits located on the seven sections. Trial was to a jury, and based upon the jury’s findings to the 81 submitted special issues, judgment was…