Madison v. Ducktown Sulphur, Copper & Iron Co.

Madison and other landowners (plaintiffs) sued Ducktown Sulphur and Copper & Iron Company (defendants), whose copper-mining "roast pile" ore-reduction process released large smoke plumes that destroyed timber and damaged crops on plaintiffs' land, worth less than $1,000 combined; the mining operations, by contrast, were worth about $2 million, provided substantial county employment, generated significant state income, and used the only scientifically known method for reducing copper ore, conducted in a remote area with no better available location. The trial court granted plaintiffs an injunction against the roast-pile method, and the defendants appealed.