Oryn Treadway Sheffield, Jr. Trust v. Consolidation Coal Co.

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 11-2277
ORYN TREADWAY SHEFFIELD, JR. TRUST; JOHN TOLMAN SHEFFIELD
TRUST,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
JOHN TOLMAN SHEFFIELD; ORYN TREADWAY SHEFFIELD, JR.,
Trustees – Appellants,
v.
CONSOLIDATION COAL COMPANY,
Defendant – Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Abingdon. James P. Jones, District
Judge. (1:11-cv-00049-JPJ-PMS)
Argued: October 25, 2012 Decided: November 21, 2012
Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and AGEE, Circuit
Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ARGUED: Ilya I. Berenshteyn, THE SENTER LAW FIRM, PC, Bristol,
Tennessee, for Appellants. James Robert Creekmore, THE
CREEKMORE LAW FIRM, PC, Blacksburg, Virginia, for Appellee. ON
BRIEF: Blair N. C. Wood, THE CREEKMORE LAW FIRM, PC, Blacksburg,
Virginia; Jonathan T. Blank, Lisa M. Lorish, MCGUIREWOODS, LLP,
Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
The Oryn Treadway Sheffield, Jr. Trust and the John Tolman
Sheffield Trust (“Appellants”) appeal a district court order
dismissing their complaint against Consolidation Coal Company
(“Consolidation”). Finding no error, we affirm.
Appellants brought this action in federal district court
against Consolidation, asserting causes of action for trespass,
conversion, assumpsit, and negligence, and seeking money
damages. Their amended complaint alleges the following facts.
By deed dated December 4, 1937, Prater Coal Land Company
conveyed to H. Claude Pobst and F.H. Combs “all of the coal, oil
and gas as well as all such other minerals, metal and timber as
[Prater Coal Land Company] may own or be entitled to in or upon
the lands hereinafter identified, together with all rights,
privileges and easements in, on or under [such lands located in
Buchanan County, Virginia, as described].” J.A. 71. On
December 28, 1937, Pobst and Combs then conveyed by deed to
Levisa Coal Corporation “all the coal, metals and timber,
together with all rights, privileges and easements incident
thereto, in, on or under” the parcels that the December 4 Deed
described (the “Buchanan parcels”). J.A. 76. Following that
conveyance, Pobst and Combs each retained a 50% interest in the
oil, gas, and “all other such minerals” in the Buchanan parcels.
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On November 16, 1956, Levisa Coal leased to Island Creek
Coal Company (“Island Creek Coal”) the rights to remove the coal
from the Buchanan parcels and “to make any use of the leased
premises which [Island Creek Coal] may deem needful or
convenient in carrying on its mining or other operations.” J.A.
61 (internal quotation marks omitted).
Pobst died in 1965 and devised the remainder of his estate
to his second wife, Jessie Maie Pobst. As part of the
settlement of an apparent dispute concerning the will, Jessie
Maie Pobst granted her late husband’s children a one-half
undivided interest “in all of the real property of which . . .
Claude Pobst died seized and possessed, and situate[d] in
Buchanan County.” J.A. 37. As a result, Jessie Maie Pobst was
left with a 25% interest in “all other such minerals” in the
Buchanan parcels.
When Jessie Maie Pobst died in 1989, her will provided for
two testamentary trusts, namely, the two Appellants herein, the
Oryn Treadway Sheffield, Jr., Trust and the John Tolman
Sheffield Trust. Her interest in the Buchanan parcels thus
passed to Appellants, and it is via this chain of title, that
together they claim a 25% interest in “all . . . minerals” in
the Buchanan parcels other than coal, oil, gas, metals or
timber.
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Island Creek Coal mined coal from the Buchanan parcels
through its VP3 Mine until 1998. The amended complaint alleges
that, during the time Island Creek Coal was utilizing the VP3
Mine, “minerals such as ore, rock, or any other homogeneous
crystalline element, were removed.” J.A. 62-63. While active
coal mining in the VP3 Mine ceased in 1988, the amended
complaint does not allege that there is no coal remaining or
that the mine was abandoned.
Island Creek Coal is a subsidiary of Consolidation, which
owns the Buchanan No. 1 Mine, located not far from the VP3 Mine.
The complaint alleges that around 2006 Consolidation Coal began
depositing wastewater from the Buchanan No. 1 Mine into the
underground voids of the VP3 Mine.
Consolidation moved to dismiss the amended complaint for
lack of standing and for failure to state a claim. The district
court granted the motion. The court concluded that Appellants’
claims centered around their assertions that their interest in
“all other such minerals” in the parcels gives them an ownership
interest in the voids in the VP3 Mine and that Consolidation had
harmed Appellants’ mineral interest. The court determined that
Appellants failed to allege facts in their complaint that
plausibly established either of these propositions. As such, it
ruled that Appellants “lack standing to bring any claims based
on an ownership interest in the VP3 Mine voids” and that the
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amended complaint “fails to state a claim against Consolidation
based on [Appellants’] ownership interest in the ‘other
minerals.’” Oryn Treadway Sheffield, Jr., Trust v.
Consolidation Coal Co., 819 F. Supp. 2d 625, 631 (W.D. Va.
2011).
Appellants now appeal the dismissal of their complaint.
Having considered the parties’ briefs, the joint appendix, and
the oral arguments of counsel, we find no error and affirm on
the reasoning of the district court.
AFFIRMED
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