Shepherd's Bend Mine
| This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy. |
| Sub-articles: |
Shepherd's Bend Mine was a proposed U.S. coal mine in Walker County, Alabama, just northwest of Birmingham. As of October 2019, the project has not progressed in more than four years, and it appears to be cancelled.
Contents
Location
The map below shows the approximate site where the mine would have been built in Walker County, Alabama.
Background
The site for the proposed Shepherd's Bend Mine is located above the Shepherd Bend area and is bound on the east side by the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River, on the west by Reeds Ferry Road, and on the north and south by private property and the University of Alabama.[1]
In 2007, The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama requested proposals to lease certain surface, mineral rights, and fee simple lands to surface mine coal.[2]
A permit for the proposed mine was issued to Shepherd Bend LLC, a company owned by the Drummond family, by the Alabama Surface Mining Commission in 2010. Shepherd's Bend would have been located on part of 1,300 acres the University of Alabama owns in Walker County and would have discharged wastewater 800 feet away from a Birmingham Water Works Board intake facility that supplies water for 200,000 Birmingham-area residents.[3]
In June 2015, Drummond Company, Inc. announced that it would not renew its permit to mine coal at Shepherd's Bend.[4]
"Drummond Company, Inc. will not renew its permit to mine coal at the Shepherd’s Bend mine project. With the drop in the price of coal worldwide, the Company finds that the development of Shepherd’s Bend mine would not yield an acceptable rate of return to justify the investment. This decision comes not because of the attack on the viability of protecting the environment during the process of mining at Shepherd’s Bend. The Company would have mined the coal in an environmentally safe manner. As stated, this was brought about by economic reasons, not environmental concerns."[5]
Project Details
- Sponsor:
- Parent Company: Drummond Company, Inc.
- Location: Walker County, Alabama, United States
- GPS Coordinates: 33.6671152, -87.1302512 (approximate)
- Status: Cancelled
- Production Capacity:
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves:
- Coal type:
- Mine Size: 1,773 acres[2] (proposed)
- Mine Type: Surface
- Start Year:
- Number of employees:
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
Related SourceWatch articles
- Coal and jobs in the United States
- Coal phase-out
- Headquarters of U.S. coal mining companies
- Global list of coal mining companies and agencies
- Proposed coal mines
To see a listing of coal mines in a particular state, click on the map:
References
- ↑ Alabama Surface Mining Commission Permit No. P-3945-64-15S Alabama Surface Mining Commission, Oct. 19, 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shepherd Bend Mine Short Introduction Black Warrior Riverkeeper, accessed Oct. 25, 2019
- ↑ "Conflict brewing over Mine", Tray Smith, The Crimson White, Feb. 6, 2012.
- ↑ Drummond Shepherd Bend Mine announcement Black Warrior Riverkeeper, accessed Oct. 25, 2019
- ↑ "Drummond Company, Inc. announces it will not renew permit to mine at Shepherd’s Bend" Drummond Company, Inc., June 19, 2015
