Chartiers Block Coal Co. v. Mellon
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
25 A. 597 (1893)

- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
W. L. Mellon (defendant) owned the surface of a property, and the Chartiers Block Coal Company (Chartiers) (plaintiff) owned the coal beneath the surface. In the instrument conveying Chartiers the coal, Chartiers also obtained mining rights and the right to make ingress and egress for the purposes of obtaining the coal. There was no reservation for the grantor to go through the coal to obtain other minerals, such as oil or gas, probably because there was no evidence of any other valuable materials at the time of the conveyance. But oil and gas were later discovered. Operators then sought to obtain the gas and oil by digging through the coal. In response, Chartiers sought an injunction against further oil drilling, arguing that the oil drilling was threatening the safety of the coal operation and would decrease the value of the coal. The court largely denied the request as to already existing wells and largely allowed additional wells. The court, however, required the oil operators to make a deposit with the court and to exercise caution with respect to Chartiers’s coal rights as they continued drilling. Chartiers appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Paxson, C.J.)
Concurrence (Williams, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.