Avitts v. Amoco Production Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
53 F.3d 690 (5th Cir. 1995)
Avitts and other Texas landowners (plaintiffs) sued Amoco and other oil companies (defendants) in Texas state court for property damage from oilfield activities; the parties weren't completely diverse. The original complaint vaguely mentioned that evidence would show violations of "not only State law but also Federal law," and later filings referenced CERCLA and the Oil Pollution Act only as a measure of damages, never as an actual claim. The defendants removed the case to federal court, which entered a preliminary injunction and cost order against them before their consolidated appeal reached the Fifth Circuit.
Whether a case may be removed from state to federal court when the complaint contains only a vague reference to federal law without pleading a federal cause of action.