Alliance Resource Partners

{{#Badges: CoalSwarm}}Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (ARLP) describes itself as "a diversified coal producer and marketer with significant operations in the eastern United States" and states that it is "the fifth-largest coal producer in the eastern United States."

On its website ARLP states its "customer base includes major utilities and industrial users ... More than 80 percent of ARLP's sales tonnage is dedicated to electric utilities that have long-term contractual relationships with the company."

At 2008 year end, ARLP states that it had approximately 2,955 full-time employees, $1.0 billion in assets and $1.2 billion in total revenues.

Mining Operations

The company has coal mining operations in five states -- Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia - as well as a rail-to-barge loading terminal located in Indiana.

• Cardinal Mine
• Dotiki Mine
• Excel Mine 3
• Excel Mine 2
• Gibson County Coal
• Gibson South Mine
• Hopkins County Coal Mine
• MC Mining
• Mettiki Mine
• Mountain View Mine
• Pattiki Mine
• Penn Ridge Mine
• Pontiki Mine
• River View Mine
• Tunnel Ridge Mine

Click on the locations shown on the map for mine details:

Community passes anti-mining ordinance

On April 9, 2008, Alliance Resource Partners LP and units of Allegheny Energy Inc. filed a lawsuit against Donegal Township in Washington County, Pa., saying a new township ordinance endangered both its Tunnel Ridge Mine and Penn Ridge Mine longwall mining projects. The companies said that the township, in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, passed an ordinance in December 2007 that seeks to ban mining in the township: "The Anti-Mining Ordinance has a substantial impact on interstate commerce because it has the effect of curbing the supply of coal, which is an important natural resource, at a time when demand for coal is growing substantially," said the plaintiffs. The lawsuit also said the ordinance violates the contracts and equal protection clauses, due process rights and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and is an illegal taking without adequate compensation against the companies.

The anti-mining ordinance is called "An Ordinance to Protect the Health, Safety, and General Welfare of the Citizens and Natural Environment of Donegal Township By Banning Corporations from Engaging in Mining Within the Township; By Banning Corporate Ownership of Land and Mineral Estates Used for Mining Within the Township; By Banning Persons From Using Corporations to Engage in Mining; By Banning the Exercise of Certain Powers By Mining Corporations; By Recognizing the Rights of Ecosystems and Natural Communities; and By Providing for Enforcement of Those Rights." The lawsuit also disputes a companion anti-corporation ordinance enacted by the township. Alliance had obtained the reserves for the mines from Allegheny Energy and Allegheny Energy's Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. unit in early 2000.

Dotiki Mine Roof Collapse

On April 28, 2010, a roof collapsed at the company's Dotiki Mine in Hopkins County, Kentucky, killing two miners. KY Gov. Steve Beshear said rescue crews had to pull back after reaching the site of the collapse when the roof became unstable. United Mine Workers officials say two other miners escaped. The missing miners were operating what's known as a continuous miner, a machine that digs coal for transport to the surface.

Records show inspectors from the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing have issued 31 orders to close sections of the mine or to shut down equipment because of safety violations since January 2009. Those records also show an additional 44 citations for safety violations that didn't result in closure orders.

According to the Herald-Leader, the Dotiki operator was "cited 216 times so far in 2010, according to MSHA's Web site. In 2009, the company was cited 649 times, more than the 458 citations issued last year against the West Virginia mine that blew up April 5 killing 29. On April 13, MSHA cited the operator for not notifying it quickly of an accident and for not preserving an accident site." And:

"Joe Craft, the president of Dotiki owner Alliance, organized a group of donors last year to pay for a new $7 million 'Wildcat Coal Lodge' to house the University of Kentucky men's basketball players on campus. Alliance also was tied to a controversy last year over the firing of the state's director of the state Division of Mine Permits. Ron Mills said he refused to issue about a half-dozen mine permits requested over the past year, chiefly by the politically connected Alliance Resource Partners, because they did not comply with federal and state mining law. Mills' denials were overruled."

The mine was at least partially idled in 2004 when a supply tractor caught fire and spread flames to the coal, timbers, and other equipment. 70 miners were trapped underground but were safely evacuated, and the mine returned to full production in about a month. In 1995, a worker died outside the mine when the bulldozer he was operating fell into a cavity in a coal stock pile. He was buried in coal and suffocated.

Alliance Coal Employees Among Biggest Campaign Donors

It was reported in July 2011 that Alliance Coal employees were among the biggest campaign donors in Kentucky's state primary election. Ten employees of Alliance, along with their spouses, donated a total of $60 thousand to three candidates. The candidates were Democrat Allison Lundergan Grimes for Secretary of State, Republican Todd P'Pool for Attorney General, and Republican David Williams for Governor.

A spokesman for Alliance says it's up to employees whether to be politically active, and he didn't find the contributions unusual.

Contact Details

ARLP Headquarters
Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.
1717 South Boulder Ave., Suite 400
Tulsa, OK 74119
(918) 295-7600
Website: http://www.arlp.com

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• U.S. coal politics
• Kentucky and coal

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