City of Los Angeles v. Standard Oil Co.

The complaint seeks a declaration that a statute enacted by the Legislature in 1964 relating to contribution among tortfeasors responsible for the Baldwin Hill Reservoir disaster in December 1963 is constitutional. Although several oil companies and other persons are named as defendants in the complaint, only respondent Standard Oil Company of California appeared in the action. The demurrer of respondent was sustained on the sole ground that the statute is unconstitutional in that it is special legislation based upon an invalid classification. The trial court entered a judgment declaring that the plaintiffs are not entitled to the declaration of constitutionality they seek. Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment.

The complaint alleges in substance that: from 1924 to the present the named defendants have extracted petroleum, water and natural gas from the Inglewood Oil Field; in 1951 plaintiff Department of Water and Power built the Baldwin Hills dam and reservoir in the City of Los Angeles on a site adjacent to the Inglewood Oil Field; the drilling operations of the defendants caused the surface area of the oil field and surrounding properties to subside; the subsidence caused the…