The Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District sued Mountain Pure, claiming that Mountain Pure was operating a groundwater well in violation of the District's rules. Mountain Pure counterclaimed for tortious interference with a contract that Mountain Pure had to lease the facility to Ice River and to ultimately sell the facility to Ice River, and for a takings on this basis. Mountain Pure claimed that Ice River "practically overnight" abandoned the facility, quit making rent payments, and withdrew from the purchase contract. The trial court granted the District's plea to the jurisdiction as to the tortious interference claim, but denied the plea with regard to the takings claim. The District appealed.
The appellate court ruled last week that the takings claim was nothing more than a "thinly disguised" restatement of the tortious interference claim. Citing two cases (a Texas Supreme Court case and a case out of the Court of Appeals in Dallas), the Court held that a "civil enforcement action alone cannot serve as the basis of a regulatory taking." The court dismissed the counterclaim.