COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state Supreme Court has ruled that mineral rights retained by landowners who sold property to the state in eastern Ohio allow them to strip-mine coal on the property.
At issue is a portion of a 650-acre plot of land in Jefferson County owned by the Department of Natural Resources that contains more than $2 million in coal.
The Supreme Court’s 6-1 decision Wednesday said strip-mining was well known in the county when the contract was signed and in fact other areas of the property in question had been strip-mined before the state bought it.
Justice Paul Pfeifer, writing for the majority, said it was reasonable to believe the parties to the contract understood that “reasonable surface right privileges” would include strip-mining.
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