JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A divided Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that Exxon Mobil Corp. can’t be held liable for the presence of alligators at a waste site it owns in Wilkinson County.
The oil giant had been sued by Tom and Consandra Christmas, who had planned to build a house on an adjoining parcel. However, the Christmases said when they began clearing land, they discovered the property was infested with alligators.
The court, in a 5-4 ruling released Thursday, found a trial court was correct to dismiss the case. The couple had claimed Exxon had introduced the alligators. But the majority found there’s no evidence the current alligators are descended from those introduced. The court also ruled landowners can’t be held responsible for wild animals.
The Christmases had presented testimony from Frederick Coleman, a former employee of Rogers Rental & Landfill Co., which owned the site until selling it to Exxon in 2001. Coleman testified that Exxon had been closely involved in the management of the site and that it had brought alligators from Louisiana in the 1980s as “canaries” that would warn of hazardous contamination. But Exxon denied introducing the alligators to the site next door or knowing why they were brought there. In any case, Exxon argued the Christmases should have raised concerns when they bought the 35 acres between Centreville and Woodville in December 2003, and that the three-year statute of limitations had expired.
“Regardless of Coleman’s testimony, there is no evidence that the alligators currently on Exxon’s property are descended from the alligators allegedly brought to the property by Cliff Rogers,” Justice Ann Lamar wrote for the majority. “Moreover, the Christmases fail to explain how Exxon can be held liable for Rogers’ behavior, which occurred decades before Exxon purchased the property.”
Plus, Lamar said that because alligators are a protected species regulated by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, “allowing wild alligators to constitute a private nuisance would subject landowners to liability for something over which they have no control.”
Writing for the minority, Justice David Chandler dissented, stating the Christmases should be allowed to pursue their suit.
“If a landowner, in violation of Mississippi law, amassed wild alligators or lured them to his or her property, those alligators could not be said to exist in a state of nature, and the landowner certainly could be held liable for creating and maintaining a nuisance,” he wrote.
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