Could you imagine owning the surface of your property on which your house sits, but not owning underneath the surface? That sounds impossible to most Americans but in states in which mining occurs, it is a common phenomena.

Often, in mining communities surface rights are owned by one person and sub-surface rights are owned by a mining company so that mining can occur.

Most often mining operations live in harmony with their surface neighbors. But that is not always the case.

Sometimes, sub-surface mining can have a detrimental effect on structures that are on the surface. Surface structures can start to sink, buckle, flood or in severe instances collapse when sub-surface mining occurs.

In Pennsylvania, the state has enacted a law entitled the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act. Act 54 of this law provides compensation to surface owners who are negatively impacted by mining operations.

In severe instances, the state will order mining operations to pay surface property owners for damage caused by the mining operations. In addition, the state can provide manpower assistance to the surface property owners in order to evaluate engineering options and other professional requirements necessary to address harms caused by subsurface operations.

While Act 54 is fully comprehensive, some have lately argued that it does not go far enough. Some argue that the state does not do enough to sufficiently compensate subsurface property owners from the harms that can be associated with mining operations.

At the turn of the last century a famous US Supreme Court case determined that surface property owners are clearly entitled to compensation when their property is harmed as a result of subsurface mining operations. That doctrine still applies with equal vigor today as represented by Act 54 in the Pennsylvania Mining Laws and by similar provisions found in other states with sizable mining operations.

If you reside in a mining community and your home has been negatively affected by subsurface mining operations, you should know that you may be entitled to compensation. You are entitled to peacefully coexist with mine operators. And to the extent that mining operations go over the line, you should consult with professional counsel to ensure that your legal rights have been protected.

If you need to seek legal counsel because your right to peaceful coexistence with community mining operations has been infringed upon, make sure that you seek counsel quickly as various time limitations for seeking legal redress may apply to your claim. If you make a claim too late in time, you may be forever barred from securing the legal relief to which you and your family may be entitled.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.