Western Energy Co. v. Genie Land Co.
Montana Supreme Court
737 P.2d 478 (1987)
- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
Several thousand acres of land were transferred from one party to another. The deeds reserved to the grantor the mineral rights under the land, including any necessary use of the surface for extracting the minerals. However, the deeds also stated that the grantor would pay the grantee the market value of the surface used for mining purposes. Previous litigation had concluded that this deed language contemplated the use of strip mining. Eventually, the Western Energy Company (Western) (plaintiff) obtained the mineral interests, and the Genie Land Company (Genie) (defendant) obtained the surface interest. Western sought to engage in strip mining to gain the coal out of the land. Western sued Genie for preventing it from engaging in strip mining. Genie had prevented Western from strip mining by relying on a Montana statute. The Montana statute provided that in cases of split estates (i.e., estates in which a surface owner and mineral owner were not the same entity), strip mining could occur only if the surface owner provided consent. Western claimed that the statute was unconstitutional. The trial court disagreed, and Western appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Harrison, J.)
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