Major WV Court Case Goes Against Surface Landowners

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court gavelA major court case before the West Virginia Supreme Court was decided last week, and the decision is not favorable to surface rights landowners. MDN previously alerted you to the case as it went to court back in September (see this MDN story). In brief, in WV the sub-surface mineral rights in many cases were severed and sold separately from the surface landowner rights—years ago. Surface rights landowners understand that mineral rights owners (and drillers) need access, but they want the right to have a say in where a drilling pad will be located on their property—and just compensation for taking the property for that purpose. The WV Supreme Court decided last week (a copy of the decision is embedded below) that surface rights landowners cannot challenge WV DEP permits for drill pads, and where the pads are located, on their property:

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