Rock vs. Mineral Dispute Could Go to Trial

A judge in a longrunning legal fight over mineral rights and the mining of mountain stone in Sequatchie County said he is waiting to see if the attorneys want a trial.

Chattanooga Chancery Judge Howell N. Peoples said the next move in the 3-year-old dispute is in the hands of the attorneys.

Peoples has ruled that a recent Tennessee Appeals Court case involving rock mining in the Cumberland Trail State Park likely will influence the outcome of the dispute between George Avery Land and the Tracy McDaniel family.

With the parties unable to get a summary judgment, Land's attorney, Thomas A. Greer Jr., of Dunlap, said no decision has been made about a trial.

McDaniel told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the question to be answered is whether owning property means any more than owning "the air above the property."