Kutsch v. Miller

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad (Bessemer) (defendant) purchased a mine, which was located next to a mine owned by Richard and Albert Kutsch (plaintiffs). Bessemer’s mine was located at a higher level than the Kutschs’ mine. Bessemer leased its mine to a company to engage in mining operations in exchange for a royalty per ton of coal mined. Under the terms of the lease, Bessemer had some involvement (such as inspection rights of the operations and the company’s books); the lease expressly stated, however, that the company was an independent contractor and that Bessemer had no supervision of or control over the company’s mining operations. Due to the higher level of Bessemer’s property and a previous mining incident, water from the company’s mining operations flowed toward the Kutschs’ property. The company pumped the water out while operating the mine. Eventually, the company removed all the sellable coal and abandoned the property. Because the company was no longer pumping out water, the water flowed onto the Kutschs’ property. There was supposed to be a barrier of coal left to prevent the flow of water, but the barrier was not there. The state mining inspector required the Kutschs to stop mining until the water could be removed from Bessemer’s abandoned property. The Kutschs sued Bessemer for damages due to the water. The trial court sided with the Kutschs, and Bessemer appealed, claiming it could not be liable because it had not operated the mine.