Alliance Resource Partners

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (ARLP) operates five mining companies in western Kentucky, along with mines in Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia and Maryland. The company describes itself as "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:

Proposed mines
In September 2011 it was announced that privately held White Oak Resources LLC will develop and operate the Mine No. 1 project - White Oak Mine - in Hamilton County, Ill. Alliance will support the mine with $140 million to acquire and fund development of 200 million tons in coal reserves, up to $110 million for surface rights, and another $150 million to $275 million for a preferred equity investment.

Construction of Mine No. 1 was already under way. Once in operation, White Oak estimates the longwall mine could produce up to 6.5 million tons annually.

Alliance also committed up to $110 million to buy coal-handling facilities, and it will give White Oak up to $100 million in backstop financing for mining equipment. Alliance said the deal will add to earnings and distributable cash flow once production begins, around 2014.

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.

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.

Lawsuit over polluted water
In May 2011, local TV station WKYT reported flaming drinking water well at the home of Calvin and Denise Howard in eastern Kentucky's Pike County, who reported that the water burned their skin when they bathed. They also said that Excel Mining, operator of nearby coal mine MC Mining owned by Alliance, had offered to install a water filtration system only if the residents signed a liability waiver. The Howards refused, and in August 2011, filed a lawsuit (pdf) over the contamination.

According to the lawsuit, in January 2011 the Howards began hearing explosions beneath their home, and their well water turned gray and took on an offensive odor. In May 2011, the well exploded into flames, destroying the well house, and has burned continuously ever since. The Kentucky Department of Mining Reclamation has investigated the burning well and confirmed that it "is creating an environmental and public safety hazard." The company began providing bottled water to the Howards, but other impacted families said they did not get any assistance. The Howards have been advised to evacuate their trailer home but say they can't afford to do so. The lawsuit seeks compensation for their replacement housing and their water.

Residents also report mysterious health problems they feared could be connected to the poisoned water, including a teenage girl's hair falling out and a boy vomiting blood, and are hoping to connect their water pipes to a clean municipal water source - but price is a concern. Pike County officials have said it could cost as much as $150,000 to connect them to their existing water lines, and would take at least three months.

Excel Mining parent company Alliance was involved in a 2009 controversy over the firing of the director of Kentucky's Division of Mine Permits. Ron Mills' termination came after he refused to issue about a half-dozen mine permits -- most requested by Alliance -- because they failed to comply with federal and state laws. Mills' denials were ultimately overruled by higher state officials.

Lawsuit alleging discrimination
In a 2011 lawsuit, federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused Alliance Resource Partners' River View Coal of discriminating against black applicants while hiring miners for a new mine from 2008-2010, suing on behalf of Shawn King and a "class of black applicants." At issue is how River View conducted hiring at a mine in Waverly, a non-union mine about 25 minutes west of Henderson, Ky., between Aug. 1, 2008 and 2010. The mine started operations in 2009. The underground mine employs 437 people. EEOC was hesitant to say how many people were covered by the lawsuit, saying that figure was still being determined, but that 13 people filed complaints with the agency after being rejected for jobs between 2008 to 2010, when River View began interviewing for miners. The company didn't give any of the applicants a specific reason for being turned down, and several were not interviewed for open positions.

River View produced 5.9 million tons of high-sulfur coal in 2010, with 128.5 million tons listed in reserve at the end of that same year.

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.

CEO and Koch
Joseph Craft is president, CEO, and chairman of Alliance Resource Partners. His family is reportedly worth $1.9 billion.

In June 2011, Craft attended a closed strategy session of the billionaire Koch brothers, where Charles Koch said: "We have Saddam Hussein, this is the mother of all wars" in what appeared to be a reference to President Obama and the 2012 elections. Charles Koch then suggested that those in attendance could donate millions or billions of dollars toward the war.

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

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