To the Editor:
I have been following with concern the recent articles about the Carroll Concerned Citizens in regard to the proposed mining by Rosebud Coal Co. This group is concerned about their “rights” (water, land, reasonable use, etc.) but there is no mention of the property rights of Rosebud, who owns or leases the mineral rights on the 30,000 acres in question. It seems to me that Rosebud Coal Co. has every bit as much right to access and utilize the portion of these properties it owns underground as any of the surface owners have above ground.
Moreover, each of the owners of these properties either sold or leased their mineral rights to Rosebud or bought their properties knowing full well the minerals were not included and someday the owners of those rights could choose to utilize them. As for the property values, what about the value of Rosebud’s property if it can’t be mined?
In the last edition of the FPS (May 13), Mr. Paul Feezel was quoted as saying, “There is $7 billion in coal under Carroll County… Who is going to receive the economic gain?” Well, Mr. Feezel, unless we’ve all gone socialist without knowing it, that would be the people who own the coal and dig it out of the ground. Who else would you expect to be entitled to it?
This situation reminds me of the stories I used to hear about city folks who moved to the country and then took legal action against the neighboring farmer for spreading manure on his fields.
Frederick Rohrer
Carrollton, OH
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