Railway sues pipeline operator over property dispute

A New Orleans company has sued a natural gas partnership business, alleging property infringement.

New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway Company filed a lawsuit April 22 in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana against American Midstream (Louisiana Intrastate), citing a 2014 dispute.

According to the complaint, for more 100 years the plaintiff has owned and operated a former Union Pacific railway branch line on property outside New Orleans, a 32-mile railway with interchanges through several parishes. It ships mostly food, oils, grains, petroleum, chemicals and steel products, the suit says.

American Midstream acquired a section of natural gas pipeline on the plaintiff’s property when it merged with another company in 2002, the suit says, and its right to maintain the pipeline, documented in a Dec. 6, 1999 agreement, expired Dec. 6, 2014.

The suit says the plaintiff contacted the defendant prior to the expiration date to create a renewal contract but a representative of American Midstream emailed the plaintiff Dec. 5, 2014, stating it would not renew the agreement based on the belief that the section of pipeline in question was not within the plaintiff’s jurisdiction.

New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway alleges American Midstream has continued to operate on its property.

The plaintiff seeks: injunctive action for cessation of operation and removal of the pipeline; damages as deemed appropriate; attorney fees; expenses and costs.

The railway is represented by attorneys Adrian F. LaPeyronnie III and David Greenberg of Greenberg & LaPeyronnie in Gretna.

U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana case number: 2:15-cv-01307-LMA-KWR.