USE OF OIL IN MINES-REGULATIONS.

LAWS 1911, P. 756.

JUNE 9, 1911.

AN ACT to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in and about the bituminous coal mines of Pennsylvania, and for the protection and preservation of property connected therewith.

NOTE.-Article XVII is inserted here. A copy of sec. 6 is under the title Mine Foremen-Employment and Duties. (See p. 225.) A copy of sec. 7 is under the title Inspectors and Inspection. (See p. 144.) The body of the act is under the title Mining Operations-Bituminous Coal Mines. (See p. 740.)

ARTICLE XVII.

REGULATIONS FOR OIL.

SEC. 1. The oiling or greasing of cars inside of any mine is strictly prohibited, unless the place where said oil or grease is used is thoroughly cleaned at least once every day to prevent the accumulation of waste oil or grease on the roads or in the drains at that point. Not more than one barrel of lubricating oil shall be permitted in any mine at one time, and it shall be kept in a fireproof building, cut out of solid rock, or made of masonry or concrete of sufficient thickness to insure safety in case of fire.

SEC. 2. No explosive oil shall be taken into or used in any mine for lighting purposes, except when used in safety lamps, and shall not be taken into or stored in any mine in quantities exceeding five gallons. Said oil when stored in a mine shall be kept in a fireproof vault made of masonry or concrete.

SEC. 3. All oils or materials used in open lamps shall be nonexplosive, and free from odors and fumes deleterious to health, and shall have a burning point not lower than three hundred degrees, and must not produce over eleven onehundredth of one per centum of their weight of soot when burned in a miner's lamp with a flame one and one-half inches high; the determination of the percentage of soot to be by tests specified by the department of mines.

SEC. 4. Paraffin wax used in mines shall not contain over three per centum of oil.

SEC. 5. All illuminants sold to be used in open lamps in mines shall have branded conspicuously on the barrel or package containing the same the name of the manufacturer, date of shipment, and percentage of soot.

SEC. 6. Any employee who shall use, or any mine foreman who shall permit to be used, or any person who shall sell for use, in any mine, any oil or any other material for illuminating purposes other than that prescribed in this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: Provided, however, That any illuminant that is found not detrimental to health and safety, after the proper tests specified by the department of mines, can be used in any mine with the consent of the inspector.

SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the inspector, whenever he has reason to believe that an illuminant is being used, or sold, or offered for sale, in violation of the provisions of this article, to take samples of the same and have them tested under the direction of the department of mines.

That every borough within this Commonwealth that hereafter may be incorporated by an act of the General Assembly, or by the court of quarter sessions of any county shall have power

II. POWERS OF CORPORATE OFFICERS.

SEC. 2. The powers of the corporation shall be vested in the corporate officers designated in the charter, they shall have power;

XIII. To prohibit and remove any obstructions in the highways of the bor ough, and any nuisance or offensive matter whether in the highways or in public or private ground, and to require the removal of the same by the owner or occupier of such grounds, in default of which the corporation may cause the same to be done, and collect the cost thereof with twenty per centum advance thereon in the manner provided herein for the cost of payments made by the corporation.

XIV. To prohibit within the borough the carrying on of any manufacture, art, trade, or business which may be noxious or offensive to the inhabitants; the manufacture, sale, or exposure of fireworks or other inflammable or dangerous articles, and to limit and prescribe the quantities that may be kept in one place of gunpowder, fireworks, turpentine, and other inflammable articles, and to prescribe such other safeguards as may be necessary.

LAWS 1878, P. 56.

PLUGGING WELLS.

MAY 16, 1878.

AN ACT requiring owners and operators of oil lands to plug their wells, so as to shut off all fresh water from the oil bearing rock, and to exclude the oil and gas from the fresh water before abandonment, and providing a penalty for neglect to perform the same.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That all owners of and operators of oil lands within this Commonwealth, shall in a practical manner plug their wells, at proper depth, with wood and sediment, in a manner sufficient to exclude all fresh water from the oil-bearing rock, and to prevent the flow of oil or gas into the fresh water.

SEC. 2. That any person found guilty of violating the provisions of this act shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars for each and every offense, which shall be paid one-half to the informer and the other half to the school district in which the offense is committed, which shall be collected as fines of like manner are by law collected.

SEC. 3. That whenever the owner of any well has abandoned the same or does not reside in the county in which it is situated, any person owning property adjoining may enter in and take possession of any well for the purpose of

carrying out the provisions of the first section of this act, where the owner has refused or neglected to plug said well so as to shut off the fresh water from the oil rock and exclude the gas and oil from the fresh water, as provided in section first at the expense of the owner.

PLUGGING WELLS-SECOND GENERAL ACT.

LAWS 1881, P. 110.

JUNE 10, 1881.

AN ACT regulating the mode of plugging abandoned oil wells, and providing a penalty for the violation thereof.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That whenever any well shall have been put down for the purpose of exploring for and producing oil, upon abandoning or ceasing to operate the same, the owner or operator shall, for the purpose of excluding all fresh water from the oilbearing rock and before drawing the casing, fill up the well with sand or rock sediment to the depth of at least twenty feet above the third sand or oil-bearing rock, and drive a round, seasoned, wooden plug at least two feet in length, equal in diameter to the diameter of the well below the casing, to a point at least five feet below the bottom of the casing, and, immediately after the drawing of the casing, shall drive a round wooden plug into the well at the point just below where the lower end of the casing shall have rested, which plug shall be at least three feet in length, tapering in form and to be of the same diameter at the distance of eighteen inches from the smaller end as the diameter of the well below the point at which it is to be driven; after it has been properly driven shall fill in on top of same with sand or rock sediment to the depth of at least five feet.

SEC. 2. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this act shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred dollars, one half to be for the use of the informer and one half to the use of the school district in which such well may be situated, to be recovered as debts of like amount are by law recoverable.

SEC. 3. Whenever any owner or operator shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section one of this act, the owner of, or operator upon any land adjoining that upon which such abandoned well may be, may enter, take possession of said abandoned well and plug the same as provided by this act, at the expense of the owner or operator whose duty it may be to plug the same. SEC. 4. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

ANNOTATIONS.

PLUGGING ABANDONED WELLS.

1. PURPOSE AND CONSTRUCTION OF ACT.
2. PLUGGING WELL-DUTY AND LIABILITY.
3. RIGHT TO PLUG WELL-WHO MAY EXERCISE.

4. REMEDY FOR FAILURE TO PLUG.

5. EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO PLUG.

6. REMOVAL OF FIXTURES.

1. PURPOSE AND CONSTRUCTION OF ACT.

The legislature in the exercise of its proper functions determined that to permit the flow of fresh water into the oil-bearing rock involved a danger to property in the territory in which a gas well was located; and because of the injury to the public interest a penalty was imposed upon the delinquent owner who abandoned the well without plugging it.

Steelsmith v. Aiken, 14 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 226, p. 228.

This is a penal statute and should receive a reasonable construction and can not be extended by implication to cases not included within the clear and obvious import of the language.

Dawson v. Shaw, 28 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 563, p. 565.

2. PLUGGING WELL-DUTY AND LIABILITY.

A person who, with another, had put down and operated eight oil wells and who with such other person had been operating the wells, including a particular well that was pumped with several other wells, is within the provisions of this act requiring the owner or operator on abandonment to plug the well. Dawson v. Shaw, 28 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 563, p. 565.

3. RIGHT TO PLUG WELL-WHO MAY EXERCISE.

The right to plug an abandoned well at the expense of the delinquent operator is made appurtenant to an estate in adjoining land; but a person can not assert the right before he has acquired, nor after he has parted with his title in the adjoining lands. The right accrues as soon as the delinquency is complete. The right of an adjoining land owner is complete when the operator abandoned the well leaving it unplugged.

Steelsmith v. Aiken, 14 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 226, p. 229.

An oil-well driller operating under a lease drilled a well through the third sand, or oil bearing rock, and then abandoned the well without plugging it as required by this act. Subsequently a lessee, by lease, acquired the right from adjoining land owners to drill for oil and gas purposes and carried on drilling operations upon the leased lands. After drilling one well on such adjoining lands the lessee discovered that the abandoned well had not been plugged and he proceeded to plug it in the manner authorized and required by the act. When this last lessee acquired title under his lease he became through privy of estate possessed of all the rights for the protection of his property which the law conferred upon the land owner and such subsequent lessee of adjoining lands was authorized by the act to plug the abandoned well and was entitled to sue and recover the cost from the delinquent well driller.

Steelsmith v. Aiken, 14 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 226, p. 228.

4. REMEDY FOR FAILURE TO PLUG.

In an action under the act of June 10, 1881 (P. L. 110), to recover the statutory penalty for not properly plugging an abandoned oil well as required by this act, the defendant is not required to file an affidavit of defense, but the filing of such affidavit is not a waiver or an objection to the sufficiency of the plaintiff's claim or petition and judgment can not be taken for want of such affidavit or defense where the claim or petition is insufficient.

Bartoe v. Guckert, 158 Pa. St. 124, p. 125.

This act recognizes that the owners of and operators upon lands adjoining land on which there is an abandoned gas well may suffer a special prejudice because of a probable deprivation of property fugitive in its nature and gives to such landowners a remedy suitable to the injury. But the act does not authorize an owner of or operator upon adjacent lands to bring a personal action to recover damages for the injuries to his estate. The act instead provides a remedy for the prevention of the continuance of such injury.

Steelsmith v. Aiken, 14 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 226, p. 229.

In an action under this statute to recover the penalty for not plugging an abandoned oil well the plaintiff is not entitled to judgment for want of an affidavit of defense. Neither is the plaintiff entitled to a judgment if the defendant files an insufficient affidavit of defense.

Bartoe v. Guckert, 158 Pa. St. 124, p. 125.

5. EXCUSE FOR FAILURE TO PLUG.

This act does not require an owner or operator to plug an oil well unless there was a third sand or oil-bearing rock and whether or not the duty rested upon the accused to plug a particular well necessarily must be determined from the evidence and can not be decided as a matter of law.

Dawson v. Shaw, 28 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 563, p. 566.

An owner or operator of an oil or gas well is not to be punished by the imposition of the penalty named in this statute if it was a physical impossibility under all reasonable and known means to pull the casing and place the two seasoned plugs as directed by the act. There is a distinction between a duty of a person to perform his contract voluntarily entered into and to perform under a duty imposed by law. The rule is that when a duty or charge is imposed upon a party by law and not by his own contract he will be excused from liability if performance of the duty becomes impossible without default on his part. The question of whether or not an owner or operator can plug a well, as directed by the statute, is one of fact that must be determined by a jury.

Dawson v. Shaw, 28 Pa. Supr. Ct. Rep. 563, p. 566.

6. REMOVAL OF FIXTURES.

The tubing and casing in oil and gas wells, the derrick and other appliances used in operating a well, are trade fixtures and may be removed. The proper time and the proper manner of such removal are provided for by this act and are approved by the settled custom and usage of the oil trade.

Robinson v. Harrison, 237 Pa. St. 613, p. 650.

See Shellar v. Shivers, 171 Pa. St. 569.

Siller v. Globe Window Glass Co., 21 Ohio Cir. Ct. 284.

PLUGGING GAS WELLS.

LAWS 1885, P. 29.

MAY 29, 1885.

AN ACT to provide for the incorporation and regulation of natural gas companies.

NOTE-Secs. 1 to 19, inclusive, and sec. 23 of this act are under the appropriate title Natural Gas Companies Incorporation and Regulation. (See p. 440.) Secs. 20, 21, and 22 are properly placed under this title.

SEC. 20. That whenever any well shall have been put down on lands of any company authorized by this act for the purpose of exploring for, or producing gas, upon abandoning or ceasing to operate the same the company shall, before drawing the casing, fill up the well with sand or rock sediment to the depth of at least twenty (20) feet above the gas bearing rock, and drive a round seasoned wooden plug at least two feet in length, equal in diameter to the diameter of the well below the casing, to a point at least five feet below the bottom of the casing, and immediately after the drawing of the casing shall drive a round wooden plug into the well at the point just below where the lower end of the casing shall have rested, which plug shall be at least three feet in length, tapering in form, and to be of the same diameter at the distance