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Tenant farmer sues Sunoco for crop losses

2 min read
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Simmons Farm of Peters Township is claiming Sunoco “failed and refused” to pay for almost $60,000 in crop losses allegedly caused by pipeline work on land Simmons uses in North Strabane Township.

The civil complaint, filed Monday in Washington County Court on behalf of Simmons, names Sunoco Pipeline L.P. as the sole defendant. The case concerns losses the farm allegedly incurred because of Sunoco’s construction activities.

According to the lawsuit, Robert Simmons, owner of the company, signed an agreement with Sunoco Logistics in July 2014 stipulating Sunoco would “pay for reasonable damages that occur from construction as related to his crops and restoration of the land if needed.”

“Sunoco has in the past compensated Simmons Farm for damages done as a result of Sunoco’s construction activities,” wrote Steven Wolf, Simmons’ attorney, in court papers.

The complaint said Simmons contacted Sunoco to remind it of the agreement after his employees found construction equipment on the Thomas E. Beck Farm – the Devore Road property where Simmons Farm is a tenant – in April.

Representatives from Tablerock Land, which works locally on behalf of Sunoco in matters involving crop losses, allegedly told Simmons four acres would be affected by the work, and he’d be paid for his losses on that area.

Simmons sent Tablerock a letter that month estimating work in that area cost his company $53,000 – an amount Sunoco reportedly disputes.

His complaint said he sent another letter in October asserting his company had sustained another $6,500 in losses, including $2,000 to send a crew out to prepare the land for 2018.

Wolf said Tuesday his client was reluctant to take the matter to court, but negotiators for Sunoco “have taken a position now where they won’t budge.”

“We held off doing this for a considerable period of time,” Wolf said.

A Sunoco spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about the complaint.

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