Facts
- Northwest Natural Gas Co. maintained storage facilities on its Portland, Oregon property that collected and controlled large quantities of natural gas.
- The complaint alleged natural gas was capable of great harm if it escaped from control.
- Lorence McLane was on a portion of the property away from the main gas collection area, preparing to assist with insulating part of a liquefied gas storage tank under construction.
- The complaint alleged gas escaped the defendant’s control, entered the storage tank, and exploded, causing McLane’s death.
- The estate’s administratrix brought a wrongful-death action based on strict liability (not negligence), relying on the Rylands v. Fletcher doctrine and Restatement (First) of Torts § 519.
Issues
- Whether a complaint alleging large-scale storage of natural gas in a populated area and an explosion from escaped gas states a cause of action for strict liability based on an abnormally dangerous activity.
Decision
- The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the judgment sustaining the demurrer and remanded.
- The court held that storing large quantities of natural gas in a populated area may constitute an abnormally dangerous activity subject to strict liability.
- The court held the complaint’s allegations were sufficient to plead strict liability because they alleged an abnormally dangerous activity and harm caused by the gas’s escape.
Legal Principles
- Strict liability may be imposed for harm resulting from abnormal risks inherent in an abnormally dangerous activity, even when the activity is reasonably incident to desirable industrial operations.
- The policy basis for such liability is the defendant’s intentional choice to expose the community to abnormal risk; the enterprise should bear resulting losses rather than innocent victims.
- Whether an activity is abnormally dangerous is a question of law for the court.
- On demurrer, well-pleaded allegations are taken as true; a plaintiff need only allege facts that, if proved, would bring the case within the strict-liability doctrine, without pleading negligence.
Conclusion
The court recognized that large-scale natural gas storage in a populated area can qualify as an abnormally dangerous activity and held that allegations of escaped gas causing an explosion and death were sufficient to state a strict-liability wrongful-death claim, requiring reversal of the demurrer and remand.