State v. Placid Oil Co.
Louisiana Supreme Court
300 So. 2d 154 (1973)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Placid Oil Company (defendant) drilled and installed several oil wells on the banks of a large body of water known as Grand Lake-Six Mile Lake. Placid believed that the body of water was properly classified as a river and that Placid therefore owned the land in question as the owner of the adjacent land. The state of Louisiana (plaintiff) and its lessee, Gulf Oil Corporation (plaintiff), believed that the body of water was properly classified as a lake and that the state therefore owned the land. The state and Gulf sued Placid to be declared the owner of the land. The court of appeal held that the body of water was a river or a stream and that Placid therefore owned the land. The Louisiana Supreme Court, in an original hearing, upheld this decision, finding that the body of water was a stream. The supreme court granted a rehearing in the case, however, citing the importance of the issues in the case to the people of the state.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sanders, C.J.)
Dissent (Summers, J.)
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