Shell Petroleum Corp. v. Hess

Mary M. Hess and William Hess, husband and wife, the owners of a certain 80-acre tract of land in Noble county, brought an action against Shell Petroleum Corporation et al. to recover damages alleged to have been inflicted upon said land by reason of the pollution of Black Bear creek that runs through the land. The jury’s verdict favored plaintiffs, and this appeal followed.

The first proposition urged by defendants involves the correctness of the trial court’s ruling in refusing to sustain a plea of res adjudicata. In 1929, the same plaintiffs brought an action against three of the companies…