Commonwealth v. Clearview Coal Co.

Citations

• 256 Pa. 328
• 100 A. 820
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 609

Syllabus

<p>Equity — Mines and mining — Goal mines■ — Deeds—Waiver of surface support — School building — Police power — Right to condemn —Bill in equity■ — Infunction—Refusal.</p> <p>1. It is only in rare cases of overwhelming necessity that private property may be taken or destroyed for the public good.</p> <p>■2. Where a deed (conveying underlying coal expressly waives the right of surface support, it is lawful for the grantee to remove all of the coal where its removal is done in a lawful manner, and such removal cannot constitute a public nuisance such as will be restrained in equity. The restraining of such removal would in effect be a taking of private property for public use without compensation.</p> <p>3. The surface of coal land was conveyed to a school district by deed expressly waiving the right of surface support, and a large school building was thereafter erected upon the property. The subsequent mining of the coal caused serious injury to the building and made necessary the closing of the school. A bill in equity was filed in the name of the Commonwealth at the relation of taxpayers to restrain the owner of the coal from mining it, on the ground that the mining of the coal was a public nuisance. Held, the court did not err in dismissing the bill.</p> <p>4. In such case, the school district under its right of eminent domain csuld obtain such coal as might be necessary to support its building.</p>