Plaintiff purchases the surface and an undivided half interest in the mineral estate in a 20,000 acre ranch that is subject to an oil and gas lease. His primary purpose in buying the property is to use it as a recreational hunting ranch. He discovers a variety of oil field "junk" on the property, and about three years after buying the ranch, brings suit against the oil and gas lessee. The plaintiffs principal allegations are based on unreasonable use of the surface, and negligence. The allegations are based on the defendant oil company's alleged use of various areas of the ranch to store rusted and unusable oil field equipment, including rusted out and leaking tanks, a truck that was not moved for at least three years, and a variety of old oil field "junk." The trial court grants plaintiffs motion for a temporary injunction on the ground that the storage of the unused and unusable equipment constituted an unreasonable use of the surface and creates a risk of erosion and pollution that would result in irreparable injury. Held: reversed and remanded for trial on the merits. The appellate court holds that the trial court abused its discretion in issuing the order. The purpose of a temporary injunction is to preserve the status quo pending a trial on the merits; but the trial court's order goes beyond maintaining the status quo by requiring the defendant to remove all unused equipment from the ranch. As holder of the dominant estate, the defendant oil company has the implied right to use as much of the surface as is reasonably necessary to carry out its operations; whereas the plaintiff surface owner has the burden of showing excessive use of the surface; specific acts of negligence, or irreparable injury. These fact issues can be resolved only by a trial on the merits.
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