US appeals court dismisses suit against Arkansas pipeline
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that dismissed and decertified a class-action lawsuit against oil giant Exxon Mobil.
The lawsuit was filed by four property owners in central Arkansas after the 2013 rupture of the Pegasus pipeline. The rupture spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
The lawsuit sought to recover damages resulting from what the property owners argued was the company’s breach of contract and diminished property values. The suit also sought to force Exxon Mobil to remove or replace the pipeline, which was built in the late 1940s.
The pipeline ran from Corsicana, Texas, through parts of Arkansas and Missouri to Patoka, Illinois. Exxon Mobil shuttered the pipeline shortly after the spill. Only a segment in Texas has reopened.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In March 2015, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller in Little Rock reversed a class-action status to the lawsuit and dismissed the case. A class action stood to affect thousands of landowners in four states, and Miller argued there was a lack of commonality among those landowners.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Miller’s decision on Thursday.
Thomas Thrash, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients were disappointed with the decision. He said they haven’t decided if they’ll appeal further.
An Exxon Mobil spokesman said the company agreed with the court decision.
Texas man charged in 1994 slaying
SEARCY, Ark. (AP) — A Texas man has been charged in the death of an Arkansas man who has been missing since 1994.
Searcy police detectives arrested 41-year-old Brandon Wheeler Wednesday with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Mountain State Fugitive Task Force.
Wheeler has been charged with capital murder and abuse of corpse in the death Jarrod Green. He is being held in a Jefferson County, Ohio jail, and is expected to be extradited to Arkansas.
A police affidavit says David Green reported his son’s disappearance on Oct. 5, 1994. He told authorities his son went to meet Wheeler about a drug debt.
A Searcy spokesman declined to confirm if authorities have found Green’s remains.
Stolen trailer with $5,000 worth of snacks found in Arkansas
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Police in Arkansas have arrested two people for stealing a 16-foot trailer that contained thousands of dollars’ worth of Little Debbie snack cakes.
Police say the trailer was discovered missing early Wednesday from outside a storage unit in Jonesboro, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock. According to a police report, the trailer belonged to a Little Debbie salesman and contained $5,000 worth of snacks.
Jonesboro police said the trailer was located in neighboring Mississippi County that night during a traffic stop. A police report says none of the snack cakes were touched. Two female suspects have been taken into custody.
The trailer’s owner, Roy Frazier, tells Jonesboro television station KAIT he’s thankful his property was returned and that he’s bought new locks for the trailer.