From The Tennessean by Staff Writer Anne PaineA commercial rock harvesting operation that has been digging stone out of the Cumberland Trail State Park has been dealt a blow.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals struck down a lower court ruling that basically approved the company's unfettered taking of rock from the surface of the parkland and mining it from underground.
"They have reversed the lower court's opinion and sent it back," Nashville attorney Gregory
Buppert said after receiving a copy of the ruling today."This is very good news for the Cumberland Trail State Park."Buppert is co-council with Sarah Francisco, who is with the Southern Environmental Law Center, in representing "friends" who have filed in support of the state of Tennessee. The state filed the lawsuit and had appealed the earlier ruling by the court in Chattanooga. Groups backing the state's effort include the Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Land Trust for Tennessee and 11 other conservation and environmental organizations.
The issue centers around mineral rights and whether owning the rights brings with it the right to take limestone and other rock from the surface and dig for it.Harvesters have been tearing up land - mainly on the Cumberland Plateau - to provide decorative stone for upscale homes and walkways around the region.Unlike with coal mining, there are no laws requiring the land to be returned to the way it was when the work began.View a full slideshow of the photos above here:
No comments:
Post a Comment