Centoni v. Ingalls

JENNINGS, J.

The defendants in this action were the owners of a plant in the city of Bakersfield at which clay was received, stored and distributed. This plant was located on a spur from the tracks of the Santa Fe Railway Company in what was designated as a part of the industrial district of the city. The plaintiffs were property owners living upon their properties in the neighborhood of the defendants’ plant. Some of their residences were on the inside of the so-called industrial district and some were outside in what was called a residential district. The plant was on property leased from the railroad company.

The clay, commonly called rotary mud by oil drillers, was obtained from a dry lake in the desert about seventy miles easterly from Bakersfield. It was transported to the plant in railway dump-cars which were unloaded by dumping it into concrete pits constructed under the cars. It was then taken by conveyors into bins where it was stored. The bins were emptied by chutes into trucks and the clay was then hauled to various oil-wells to be used in drilling operations. When the bins were full the surplus clay was piled on the adjoining ground.

The clay was a brownish gray color and when dry disintegrated into a fine powdery substance which when dis

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turbed created a very fine dust which floated in the- air very easily.

The plaintiffs in their complaint alleged that during the loading and unloading operations, and in other work which distributed the dry clay, great clouds of dust would arise which were carried by the winds on to their properties and into their, homes. They alleged that this dust would spread over the entire neighborhood like a thick fog; that it would settle on their flowers, trees, vines and vegetables, ruining them; that it would enter their houses, damaging their rugs, bedding, clothing, laundry and food.

The trial court found in favor of the plaintiffs and that the operations of the defendants caused these clouds of dust to arise from their plant and invade and damage the real and personal properties of the plaintiffs; that such acts constituted an invasion of the rights of the plaintiffs to the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their properties. By the judgment rendered the defendants 'were enjoined from placing the clay in unprotected piles on the ground on their property and from permitting the silt or dust from the clay to emanate, flow or arise from their plant so that it would be blown or carried in or upon the properties of the plaintiffs. From this judgment the defendant Carl Ingalls alone appealed.