Mineral rights, rocks and a hard place
| When Ed Lewis and some of his neighbors bought property on a scenic Tennessee mountain, they knew they didn’t own the mineral rights to the land, but they assumed a coal mining revival was unlikely. They never imagined anyone would try to claim ownership of all the ordinary mountain rocks on their land. Demand for the rocks has surged across the country as stone has become more popular in houses, commercial buildings and landscaping. Now, the former owner of Lewis’ property who retained the mineral rights wants to harvest the rocks. |
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Lewis and his neighbors in Sequatchie County — located in just north of Chattanooga — say if the mineral rights owners are allowed to take the rocks, their scenic bluffs and mountain land covered with hardwoods and evergreens will be ruined by blasting and bulldozers. Now a court must decide if the sandstone, fieldstone and flagstone on Fredonia Mountain are minerals. It’s a legal fight that could have implications for many landowners who don’t own the mineral rights in their land. An attorney for Lewis and the other property owners, Keith Grant of Dunlap, said he was not aware of any precedent case that sets up rules for when rocks could be considered minerals. Separate ownership of surface rights and mineral rights is fairly common in this region, due to the coal mining history. Even some residential neighborhood developers may not have mineral rights, Grant said.
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