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Heckuva story.
In rural Alabama, an underground mine threatens to blow up the homes above it. Officials don't care https://www.fastcompany.com/91146293/longwall-coal-mine-alabama-explosion
@WarnerCrocker One legal problem for homeowners is a Supreme Court ruling from around 100 years ago. It involved someone selling the mining rights to their properly to a coal mining company and then the company destroying their house to access the coal. The SCOTUS ruled that the mining company had the right to destroy the house to get to the coal. I last read about this in the 80s but I think this makes legal recourse harder for the homeowners.
@WarnerCrocker So that 3 years I spent on getting a MA in urban planning wasn't a total waste.
@paulc
IANAL, etc, etc.
But if I was arguing this for the home owners, I'd be arguing that, yes, the coal owners have a right to extract their coal. But they also have a responsibility to make home owners 'whole' for any damage done during the extraction. Not whole up to 50% of the value, 100% of the damage.
@BenAveling @WarnerCrocker This is probably the case. I don't quite remember it that way but I read about it in the 80s. Which means I am old.
@paulc Fair. It looks like the original question before the court was: is it reasonable to take away the company's right to extract coal, in order to protect the right of quiet enjoyment of the house.
The way people in the 80s looked at the same issue could have been quite different, IDK.
@WarnerCrocker