Tower Mountain Mine

Tower Mountain is a surface coal mining operation in Logan County, West Virginia, operated by Bandmill Coal and owned by Massey Energy (now Alpha Natural Resources).

According to ilovemountains.org, the Tower Mountain facility receives coal from Central Appalachian strip mines utilizing mountaintop removal practices.

Mine Data

 * MSHA ID:	4608263
 * Operator:	Bandmill Coal Corp
 * Controller:	Alpha Natural Resources
 * Union:	UMWA
 * County:	Logan
 * State:	West Virginia
 * Latitude:	37.79
 * Longitude:	-81.9
 * 2007 Production (short tons):	411,506
 * Coal Type:	Bituminous
 * Mining Method:	Surface
 * Mine Status:	Active
 * Average No. of Employees:	 52

Lawsuit
On July 16, 2012, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Alpha Natural Resources Inc. over selenium pollution in Logan, McDowell, Boone, and Kanawha counties in West Virginia, saying the company is violating the federal Clean Water Act and state-issued discharge permits. The claim asks for a judge to order the operations to comply, and fine Alpha as much as $37,500 per day of violation, some of which date to 2007. They also seek monitoring and sampling to determine the extent of the environmental damage, and a cleanup and restoration order.

The affected mines are: Alex Energy's Whitman No. 2 Surface Mine; Aracoma Coal Co.'s Camp Branch Mine; Bandmill Coal Corp.'s Tower Mountain Mine; Highland Mining Co.'s Freeze Fork Surface Mine; Independence Coal's Twilight Surface Mine; Jack's Branch Lady Dunn Preparation Plant, Hughes Creek Surface mine, and Stockton Mine; and Kanawha Energy's Fourmile Fork Mine.

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