A (gas or oil) well is not a mine, divided (Montana) Supreme Court says

[Ediacara]

A well is not a mine, divided Supreme Court says

By TOM LACEKY
Associated Press Writer

HELENA (AP) - A narrowly divided Montana Supreme Court, in a case pitting private property rights against the state's historic interest in developing natural resources, has ruled that an oil or gas well does not constitute a "mine."

The 3-2 ruling means that McCabe Petroleum Corp. cannot use the power of eminent domain to build a road across the N Bar Ranch near Lewistown to reach federal oil and gas leases on adjacent property where McCabe wants to drill exploratory wells.

The minority justices, Jim Rice and John Warner, filed dissents totaling 13 pages, one page longer than the majority opinion written by Chief Justice Karla M. Gray. They contended the ruling was a major departure from earlier Supreme Court reasoning.

Rice and Warner noted numerous cases over the years in which the high court has used the terms "well" and "mine" interchangeably. Gray said those references were made in other contexts, such as tax litigation, and do not apply to the use of the power of eminent domain.

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