FOSTER v. CITY OF KEYSER

No. 24001.

501 S.E.2d 165 (1997)

202 W.Va. 1

Charles D. FOSTER and Dolly D. Foster, Tammy Martin, Theodore Metcalfe, and James Yeckel and Shelda Yeckel, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality; Norman Parks, individually, and d/b/a Parks Excavating; and Parks Excavating, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner. Donald L. WOLFE and Virginia Wolfe, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. MOUNTAINEER GAS COMPANY, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner; and Norman Parks, individually, and d/b/a Parks Excavating, Defendant below, Respondent, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality, Third-Party Defendant below, Respondent. R.J. HARBER and M.S. Harber; Charles Taylor and Melanie Taylor; Daniel Streets and Paula Streets; Timothy Newlin and Virginia Newlin; Steve Everett and Cynthia Everett; Junior Armentrout and June Halbritter; Dorothy Lyons; William Paitsel; Harry Beard; and Tammy Martin, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality; Norman Parks, individually, and d/b/a Parks Excavating; and Parks Excavating, a West Virginia corporation, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner. NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff below, Respondent, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a municipal corporation; and Norman Parks, an individual doing business as Parks Excavating, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner. Tammy MARTIN, Administrator of the Estate of David G. Martin, deceased; John B. Lusk and Sue E. Lusk; Samuel L. Crites and Carol A. Crites; and J. Richard Campbell and Margaret H. Campbell, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality; Norman Parks, individually and d/b/a Parks Excavating; and Parks Excavating, a West Virginia corporation, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner. Charles B. LANHAM and a West Virginia corporation, and City of Keyser, a municipal corporation, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. MOUNTAINEER GAS COMPANY, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff below, Petitioner; and City of Keyser, a municipal corporation, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff below, Respondent, v. Norman PARKS, individually and d/b/a Parks Excavating, a West Virginia corporation, Third-Party Defendant below, Respondent. Charles ARMENTROUT and Peggy Armentrout, husband and wife, and Daniel Ross and Sandy Ross, husband and wife, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality; Norman Parks, individually, and d/b/a Parks Excavating; and Parks Excavating, a West Virginia corporation, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner. Dorothy JOHNSON; Robert T. Kane, Jr. and Cheryl L. Kane, his wife, and William Amtower, Plaintiffs below, Respondents, v. CITY OF KEYSER, a West Virginia municipality; Norman Parks, individually, and d/b/a Parks Excavating, Defendants below, Respondents; and Mountaineer Gas Company, a West Virginia corporation, Defendant below, Petitioner.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Decided December 15, 1997.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Robert W. Trumble, Michael J. Novotny, McNeer, Highland, McMunn & Varner, Martinsburg, for Respondents Charles D. Foster and Dolly D. Foster, et al.

Daniel C. Cooper, Steptoe & Johnson, Clarksburg, for Respondent City of Keyser, et al.

Frank X. Duff, James P. Mazzone, Robert G. McCoid, Schrader, Byrd, Companion & Gurley, Wheeling, for Petitioner Mountaineer Gas Company.

Oscar M. Bean, Bean & Bean, Moorefield, for Respondents R.J. Harber and M.S. Harber, et al.

David P. Cookman, Romney, for Respondents Tammy Martin, Administrator of the Estate of David G. Martin, et al.

Timothy M. Sirk, Keyser, for Respondent Charles B. Lanham, a West Virginia corporation, et al.

William E. Mohler, III, James A. Jarrell, Kenneth E. Tawney, Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, Charleston, for Amicus Curiae, Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation.

Avrum Levicoff, Tracey A. Jordan, Brown & Levicoff, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Respondent Norman Parks, individually, and dba Parks Excavating.

Stephen L. Gaylock, Charleston, for Respondent Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Homer Speaker, Burke Street Law Center, Martinsburg, for Respondents Charles Armentrout, et al.

Brian L. Mims, El Paso Energy Corporation, Houston, Texas and Bader C. Giggenbach, William C. Brewer & Associates, Morgantown, for Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company.

Evan H. Jenkins, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Charleston, for Amicus Curiae, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

H.L. Snyder, Timothy M. Miller, Robinson & McElwee, Charleston, for Amicus Curiae, West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association.


STARCHER, Justice:

This case arose out of a natural gas explosion in Keyser, West Virginia. Gas apparently leaked from an underground gas transmission line that runs along Beacon Street, and flowed through a sewer line into a house, where the gas ignited and exploded. The circuit court concluded, based on language in one of our cases, that the gas company which operated the transmission line was liable for the damages caused...

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