20,555
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
SW: fix punctuation
Workers at Shoal Creek are unionized and members of the United Mine Workers of America, Local 2133. In 2005 the mine employed 819 miners in three shifts, seven days a week, producing an average of 12,000 tons of washed coal per day. However, in Spring 2009 Drummond laid off 56 miners from the mine and started operating on a four-day work week.<ref>Patrick Rupinski, [http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090517/NEWS/905169992/1001?Title=Alabama-miners-nervous-about-the-future-of-coal "Alabama miners nervous about the future of coal",] "Tuscaloosa News", May 17, 2009.</ref>
The mine was the site of a series of methane gas explosions beginning on February 24, 2006, which caused significant flooding and other damage to the operation. The company announced in December 2006 that it would idle the mine on December 6, laying off 455 workers.<ref>["Drummond Co. to idle Shoal Creek Mine, lay off 455 union workers."] Birmingham Business Journal, December 4, 2006</ref> In February 2007 the mine was re-opened. Two other incidents in June, one causing damage to an underground wall and one, a lightning strike which injured five workers, prompted brief closures.<ref>Bob Sims, [http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/06/lightning_strike_at_mine_injur.html "Updated: Lightning strike at Shoal Creek mine injures 6"] The Birmingham News, June 27, 2007</ref>
==Mine Data==
