Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Easements

This subject has been litigated, and the answer seems to be that courts will interpret the exact wording of the grant of easement very, very carefully to see whether it can be read to limit the purpose to oil and gas pipelines, i.e., whether the use is limited to specific commodities. I think an easement granted for "pipelines" without specifying a particular commodity would be considered sufficiently broad to include fiber optic lines, which are in a sense pipelines for light. On the other hand, if the granting language specifies "oil and gas" that would exclude fiber optics.

See an unpublished decision in Williams Communications, LLC v. Superior Court (2002) 2002 WL 1733664 decided by the California Court of Appeal and available on WestLaw; also Blalock Eddy Ranch v. MCI Telecommunications (9th Cir., 1992) 982 F.2d 371.

Although grants of easements tend to be interpreted rather broadly, to allow for future developments, an easement granted specifically for hydrocarbon pipelines, or oil and gas pipeliens, would probably not be broad enough to allow the easement holder to install fiber optics, but an easement for pipelines, without reference to commodity, might be.