Kutsch v. Miller

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Jones,

The first of these two appeals1 presents the question of whether the owner of a deep bituminous mine, Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad (Bessemer), may be held liable for the alleged negligent acts of its lessees, Sterling Coal Company (Sterling) and Clinton Coal Company (Clinton), which supposedly caused the flooding of an adjacent deep mine owned by Richard and Albert Kutsch (Kutsch). In an equity action instituted in the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, the court, after hearings, imposed liability on Bessemer on the theory that “accumulations of water on…