A principal issue in this trespass and contract-breach claim is whether damages should be the cost to restore the land or the loss in the property's fair-market value after the pipeline company bulldozed the pipeline route despite an easement agreement. The agreement specified that the company would bore a tunnel for the line. The Wheelers sued for trespass and breach of their easement contract. In the easement negotiations, Enbridge Pipelines' agent agreed that the pipeline company would thread the pipeline beneath the property. Enbridge argues that damages should be measured by the property's lost value because the damage was permanent. The Wheelers contend that the loss in property value, perhaps negligible, deprived them of their bargain and requires restoration damages. Jurors determined Enbridge both trespassed and breached the contract and assessed $288,000 in damages for the trespass and $300,000 for the contract breach. The trial court then awarded the Wheelers $300,000 on the breach-of-contract theory. The appeals court reversed and rendered judgment in Enbridge's favor, holding that the Wheelers waived a jury question necessary to calculate damages: whether the property damage was temporary (allowing restoration damages) or permanent (requiring damages for property-value loss).
