Mining Company Wins Suit Over Kentucky Flood Safety Violations

A Kentucky mining company on Tuesday defeated claims that it failed to follow safety regulations and had exacerbated flood damage during a July 2022 rainstorm.

Property owners in Breathitt County, Ky., who experienced damage during the storm filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2023 against Pine Branch Mining LLC alleging negligence per se. Both parties moved for summary judgment.

Without any expert witness testimony to support the “sophisticated hydrological theory” linking Pine Branch’s mining activity to the flood damage, the plaintiffs can’t meet their bar, Judge Danny C. Reeves said, granting ...