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Keywords

plaintiffequityinjunctiontrialburden of proofwill

plaintiffinjunctiontrialwillappellant

Related Cases

Windfall Mfg. Co. v. Patterson, 148 Ind. 414, 47 N.E. 2, 37 L.R.A. 381, 62 Am.St.Rep. 532

Facts

The Windfall Manufacturing Company was established in 1891 and purchased land to manufacture brick and drain tile, believing it contained natural gas. The company erected its plant and machinery near the highway, within 200 feet of the property later purchased by the plaintiffs, who built their dwelling three years after the company began operations. After the company's initial gas well failed, the plaintiffs consented to the drilling of a new well, provided it was at least 150 feet from their home. However, when the company began drilling, the plaintiffs sought an injunction to prevent it, citing potential dangers and nuisances.

It appears that the appellant company was organized in 1891 for the purpose of buying land and machinery to engage in the manufacture of brick and drain tile. In pursuance of this object, the company, during the same year, purchased 22 acres of land near the town of Windfall. The land was believed to contain an unlimited supply of natural gas, such as was needed to operate the business in which appellant was to engage.

Issue

Did the trial court err in granting an injunction against the Windfall Manufacturing Company from drilling a gas well near the plaintiffs' dwelling?

Rule

A court of equity will not restrain a lawful business unless it is clear that the business will be a nuisance and that it cannot be conducted without causing such nuisance. Injunctions are not to be issued based on speculative or barely possible injuries.

A business which is a nuisance per se, as also one that is so conducted as to have become an actual nuisance, will be enjoined. But a business which merely threatens to become a nuisance will be enjoined only where the court is satisfied that the threatened nuisance is inevitable; and, since the remedy is so severe, resulting often in wholly depriving an owner of the use of his property, the court will proceed with the utmost caution in restraining such threatened and possible injuries.

Analysis

The court analyzed whether the potential dangers cited by the plaintiffs were imminent and certain. It noted that the plaintiffs had consented to the drilling of a well at a distance of 152 feet from their dwelling and that the company had taken precautions in its operations. The court concluded that the plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the drilling would inevitably result in the claimed injuries, thus failing to meet the burden of proof required for an injunction.

Conclusion

The court reversed the lower court's judgment, stating that the plaintiffs did not establish a sufficient basis for the injunction against the Windfall Manufacturing Company.

The judgment is reversed, with instructions to sustain the demurrer to each paragraph of the complaint, and to overrule the separate demurrers to the second paragraph of the answer, and for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Who won?

Windfall Manufacturing Company prevailed in the case because the court found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the drilling posed an imminent threat or constituted a nuisance.

The court found that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently demonstrate that the drilling posed an imminent threat or constituted a nuisance per se.

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