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Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a 'pit', and the above-ground structures are a 'pit head'. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.

Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging, and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open-cut and longwall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines, trucks, conveyors, hydraulic jacks, and shearers.

The coal mining industry has a long history of significant negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to the global environmental crises, such as poor air quality and climate change. For these reasons, coal has been one of the first fossil fuels to be phased out of various parts of the global energy economy. The major coal producing countries, though, such as China, Indonesia, India and Australia, have not reached peak production, with production increases replacing falls in Europe and US[1] and proposed mines under development.[2]
History
This section is an excerpt from History of coal mining.[edit]

The history of coal mining goes back thousands of years, with early mines documented in ancient China, the Roman Empire and other early historical economies. It became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was primarily used to power steam engines, heat buildings and generate electricity. Coal mining continues as an important economic activity today, but has begun to decline due to the strong contribution coal plays in global warming and environmental issues, which result in decreasing demand and in some geographies, peak coal.

Compared to wood fuels, coal yields a higher amount of energy per unit mass, specific energy or massic energy, and can often be obtained in areas where wood is not readily available. Though it was used historically as a domestic fuel, coal is now used mostly in industry, especially in smelting and alloy production, as well as electricity generation. Large-scale coal mining developed during the Industrial Revolution, and coal provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation in industrial areas from the 18th century to the 1950s. Coal remains an important energy source.[3] Coal is also mined today on a large scale by open pit methods wherever the coal strata strike the surface or are relatively shallow. Britain developed the main techniques of underground coal mining from the late 18th century onward, with further progress being driven by 19th-century and early 20th-century progress.[3] However, oil and gas were increasingly used as alternatives from the 1860s onward.

By the late 20th century, coal was, for the most part, replaced in domestic as well as industrial and transportation usage by oil, natural gas or electricity produced from oil, gas, nuclear power or renewable energy sources. By 2010, coal produced over a fourth of the world's energy.[4]
Since 1890, coal mining has also been a political and social issue. Coal miners' labour and trade unions became powerful in many countries in the 20th century, and often, the miners were leaders of the Left or Socialist movements (as in Britain, Germany, Poland, Japan, Chile, Canada and the U.S.)[5][6] Since 1970, environmental issues have been increasingly important, including the health of miners, destruction of the landscape from strip mines and mountaintop removal, air pollution, and coal combustion's contribution to global warming.
Ships have been used to haul coal since the Roman Empire
Methods of extraction

Coal extraction methods vary depending on whether the mine is an underground mine or a surface (also called open cast) mine. Additionally, coal seam thickness and geology are factors in the selection of a mining method. The most economical method of coal extraction for surface mines is the electric shovel or drag line. The most economical form of underground mining is the long wall, which involves using two spinning drums with carbide bits that runs along sections of the coal seam. Many coals extracted from both surface and underground mines require washing in a coal preparation plant. Technical and economic feasibility are evaluated based on the following: regional geological conditions; overburden characteristics; coal seam continuity, thickness, structure, quality, and depth; strength of materials above and below the seam for roof and floor conditions; topography, especially altitude and slope; climate; land ownership as it affects the availability of land for mining and access; surface drainage patterns; groundwater conditions; availability of labor and materials; coal purchaser requirements in terms of tonnage, quality, and destination; and capital investment requirements.[7]

Surface mining and deep underground mining are the two basic methods of mining. The choice of mining method depends primarily on depth, density, overburden, and thickness of the coal seam; seams relatively close to the surface, at depths less than approximately 55 m (180 ft), are usually surface mined.[citation needed]

Coal that occurs at depths of 55 to 90 m (180 to 300 ft) are usually deep mined, but in some cases surface mining techniques can be used. For example, some western U.S. coal that occur at depths in excess of 60 m (200 ft) are mined by the open pit methods, due to thickness of the seam 20–25 metres (60–90 feet). Coals occurring below 90 m (300 ft) are usually deep mined.[8] However, there are open pit mining operations working on coal seams up to 300–460 metres (1,000–1,500 feet) below ground level, for instance Tagebau Hambach in Germany.
Surface mining
Trucks loaded with coal at the Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia

When coal seams are near the surface, it may be economical to extract the coal using open-cut, also referred to as open-cast, open-pit, mountaintop removal or strip, mining methods. Opencast coal mining recovers a greater proportion of the coal deposit than underground methods, as more of the coal seams in the strata may be exploited. This equipment can include the following: Draglines which operate by removing the overburden, power shovels, large trucks in which transport overburden and coal, bucket wheel excavators, and conveyors. In this mining method, explosives are first used in order to break through the surface or overburden, of the mining area. The overburden is then removed by draglines or by shovel and truck. Once the coal seam is exposed, it is drilled, fractured and thoroughly mined in strips. The coal is then loaded onto large trucks or conveyors for transport to either the coal preparation plant or directly to where it will be used.[9]

Most open cast mines in the United States extract bituminous coal. In Canada, Australia, and South Africa, open cast mining is used for both thermal and metallurgical coals. In New South Wales open casting for steam coal and anthracite is practiced. Surface mining accounts for around 80 percent of production in Australia, while in the US it is used for about 67 percent of production. Globally, about 40 percent of coal production involves surface mining.[9]
Strip mining

Strip mining exposes coal by removing earth above each coal seam. This earth to be removed is referred to as 'overburden' and is removed in long strips.[10] The overburden from the first strip is deposited in an area outside the planned mining area and referred to as out-of-pit dumping. Overburden from subsequent strips is deposited in the void left from mining the coal and overburden from the previous strip. This is referred to as in-pit dumping.[citation needed]

It is often necessary to fragment the overburden by use of explosives. This is accomplished by drilling holes into the overburden, filling the holes with explosives, and detonating the explosive. The overburden is then removed, using large earth-moving equipment, such as draglines, shovel and trucks, excavator and trucks, or bucket-wheels and conveyors. This overburden is put into the previously mined (and now empty) strip. When all the overburden is removed, the underlying coal seam will be exposed (a 'block' of coal). This block of coal may be drilled and blasted (if hard) or otherwise loaded onto trucks or conveyors for transport to the coal preparation (or wash) plant. Once this strip is empty of coal, the process is repeated with a new strip being created next to it. This method is most suitable for areas with flat terrain.[citation needed]

Equipment to be used depends on geological conditions. For example, to remove overburden that is loose or unconsolidated, a bucket wheel excavator might be the most productive. The life of some area mines may be more than 50 years.[11]
Contour mining

The contour mining method consists of removing overburden from the seam in a pattern following the contours along a ridge or around the hillside. This method is most commonly used in areas with rolling to steep terrain. It was once common to deposit the spoil on the downslope side of the bench thus created, but this method of spoil disposal consumed much additional land and created severe landslide and erosion problems. To alleviate these problems, a variety of methods were devised to use freshly cut overburden to refill mined-out areas. These haul-back or lateral movement methods generally consist of an initial cut with the spoil deposited downslope or at some other site and spoil from the second cut refilling the first. A ridge of undisturbed natural material 15 to 20 ft (5 to 6 m) wide is often intentionally left at the outer edge of the mined area. This barrier adds stability to the reclaimed slope by preventing spoil from slumping or sliding downhill.[citation needed]

The limitations of contour strip mining are both economic and technical. When the operation reaches a predetermined stripping ratio (tons of overburden/tons of coal), it is not profitable to continue. Depending on the equipment available, it may not be technically feasible to exceed a certain height of highwall. At this point, it is possible to produce more coal with the augering method in which spiral drills bore tunnels into a highwall laterally from the bench to extract coal without removing the overburden.[citation needed]
Mountaintop removal mining
Main article: Mountaintop removal mining

Mountaintop coal mining is a surface mining practice involving removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, and disposing of associated mining overburden in adjacent "valley fills." Valley fills occur in steep terrain where there are limited disposal alternatives.[citation needed]

Mountaintop removal mining combines area and contour strip mining methods. In areas with rolling or steep terrain with a coal seam occurring near the top of a ridge or hill, the entire top is removed in a series of parallel cuts. Overburden is deposited in nearby valleys and hollows. This method usually leaves the ridge and hilltops as flattened plateaus.[8] The process is highly controversial for the drastic changes in topography, the practice of creating head-of-hollow-fills, or filling in valleys with mining debris, and for covering streams and disrupting ecosystems.[12][13]

Spoil is placed at the head of a narrow, steep-sided valley or hollow. In preparation for filling this area, vegetation and soil are removed and a rock drain constructed down the middle of the area to be filled, where a natural drainage course previously existed. When the fill is completed, this underdrain will form a continuous water runoff system from the upper end of the valley to the lower end of the fill. Typical head-of-hollow fills are graded and terraced to create permanently stable slopes.[11]
Underground mining
Main article: Underground soft-rock mining
A coal wash plant in Clay County, Kentucky
Remote Joy HM21 continuous miner used underground

Most coal seams are too deep underground for opencast mining and require underground mining, a method that currently accounts for about 60 percent of world coal production.[9] In deep mining, the room and pillar or bord and pillar method progresses along the seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the mine roof. Once room and pillar mines have been developed to a stopping point limited by geology, ventilation, or economics, a supplementary version of room and pillar mining, termed second mining or retreat mining, is commonly started. Miners remove the coal in the pillars, thereby recovering as much coal from the coal seam as possible. A work area involved in pillar extraction is called a pillar section.[citation needed]

Modern pillar sections use remote-controlled equipment, including large hydraulic mobile roof-supports, which can prevent cave-ins until the miners and their equipment have left a work area. The mobile roof supports are similar to a large dining-room table, but with hydraulic jacks for legs. After the large pillars of coal have been mined away, the mobile roof support's legs shorten and it is withdrawn to a safe area. The mine roof typically collapses once the mobile roof supports leave an area.[citation needed]

There are six principal methods of underground mining:

    Longwall mining accounts for about 50 percent of underground production. The longwall shearer has a face of 1,000 feet (300 m) or more. It is a sophisticated machine with a rotating drum that moves mechanically back and forth across a wide coal seam. The loosened coal falls onto an armored chain conveyor or pan line that takes the coal to the conveyor belt for removal from the work area. Longwall systems have their own hydraulic roof supports which advance with the machine as mining progresses. As the longwall mining equipment moves forward, overlying rock that is no longer supported by coal is allowed to fall behind the operation in a controlled manner. The supports make possible high levels of production and safety. Sensors detect how much coal remains in the seam while robotic controls enhance efficiency. Longwall systems allow a 60-to-100 percent coal recovery rate when surrounding geology allows their use. Once the coal is removed, usually 75 percent of the section, the roof is allowed to collapse in a safe manner.[9]
    Continuous mining utilizes a continuous miner machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide picks that scrape coal from the seam. Operating in a "room and pillar", also known as "bord and pillar" system, where the mine is divided into a series of 20-to-30-foot (5–10 m) "rooms" or work areas cut into the coalbed—it can mine as much as 14 tons of coal a minute, more than a non-mechanised mine of the 1920s would produce in an entire day. Continuous miners account for about 45 percent of underground coal production. Conveyors transport the removed coal from the seam. Remote-controlled continuous miners are used to work in a variety of difficult seams and conditions, and robotic versions controlled by computers are becoming increasingly common. Continuous mining is a misnomer, as room and pillar coal mining is very cyclical. In the US, one can generally cut up to around 20 feet (6 meters). This may be increased with MSHA permission. In South Africa, the limit may be as high as 12 metres (39 ft). After the cutting limit is reached, the continuous miner assembly is removed and the roof is supported by the use of a roof bolter, after which the face has to be serviced before it can be advanced again. During servicing, the "continuous" miner moves to another face. Some continuous miners can bolt and rock dust the face, two major components of servicing, while cutting coal, while a trained crew may be able to advance ventilation, to truly earn the "continuous" label. However, very few mines are able to achieve it. Most continuous mining machines in use in the US lack the ability to bolt and dust. This may partly be because the incorporation of bolting makes the machines wider, and therefore, less maneuverable.[citation needed]
    Room and pillar mining consists of coal deposits that are mined by cutting a network of rooms into the coal seam. Pillars of coal are left behind in order to keep up the roof. The pillars can make up to forty percent of the total coal in the seam, however, where there was space to leave the head and floor coal there is evidence from recent open cast excavations that 18th-century operators used a variety of room and pillar techniques to remove 92 percent of the in situ coal. However, this can be extracted at a later stage

    Blast mining or conventional mining, is an older practice that uses explosives such as dynamite to break up the coal seam, after which the coal is gathered and loaded onto shuttle cars or conveyors for removal to a central loading area. This process consists of a series of operations that begins with "cutting" the coalbed so it will break easily when blasted with explosives. This type of mining accounts for less than 5 percent of total underground production in the US today.[citation needed]
    Retreat mining is a method in which the pillars or coal ribs used to hold up the mine roof are extracted; allowing the mine roof to collapse as the mining works back towards the entrance. This is one of the most dangerous forms of mining, owing to imperfect predictability of when the roof will collapse and possibly crush or trap workers in the mine

Peabody Energy is a coal mining company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.[4][5] Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody also markets, brokers, and trades coal through offices in China, Australia, and the United States.

In 2022, Peabody recorded sales of 124 million tons of coal.[6] Peabody markets coal to electricity generating and industrial customers in more than 26 nations. As of December 31, 2022, the company had approximately 2.4 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves.[7]

Peabody maintains ownership or majority interests in 17 surface and underground mining operations located throughout the United States and Australia.[8] In the United States, company-owned mines are located in Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Peabody's largest operation is the North Antelope Rochelle Mine located in Campbell County, Wyoming, which mined more than 60 million tons of coal in 2022. Peabody spun off coal mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky into Patriot Coal Corporation in October 2007. In October 2011, Peabody acquired a majority ownership stake in Queensland-based Macarthur Coal Ltd, which specializes in the production of metallurgical coal, primarily seaborne pulverized injection coal.[9]

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 13, 2016.[10] The company emerged from bankruptcy on April 3, 2017, and started trading on NYSE with a ticker symbol BTU. It also changed the company logo from Peabody Energy to just Peabody.[11]
History
Early years (1883–1959)

The Peabody Energy company was founded as Peabody, Daniels & Company in 1883 by Francis Peabody, the son of a prominent Chicago lawyer, and a partner.[12] The company bought coal from established mines and sold it to homes and businesses in the Chicago area. In the late 1880s, Francis Peabody bought out his partner's share of the business and the company was incorporated in the state of Illinois under the name Peabody Coal Company in 1890. In 1895, it began operations of its first mine in Williamson County, Illinois and later expanded its operations in Illinois.[13] In 1913, the company won its first long-term contract to supply Chicago Edison Company, the predecessor to utility Commonwealth Edison.[14] The company's growth continued after World War I and the corporation went public for the first time in 1929 with a listing on the Midwest Stock Exchange, and in 1949 was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.[15]

Despite being ranked eighth among the country's top coal producers in the mid-1950s, Peabody began to lose market share to companies operating cost-efficient surface mining operations.[13] To address the situation, it entered into merger talks with Sinclair Coal Company. A merger between the two companies occurred in 1955, resulting in the transfer of Peabody's headquarters to St. Louis, Missouri. The merged company retained the Peabody name.[15] Under the leadership of chairman Russell Kelce, the company expanded production and sales.[13]
The Bucyrus Erie 3850-B power shovel named "Big Hog" went to work next door to Paradise Fossil Plant for Peabody Coal Company's Sinclair surface mine in 1962. When it started work it was received with grand fanfare and was the largest shovel in the world with a bucket size of 115 cubic yards (88 m3). After it finished work in the mid-1980s, it was buried in a pit on the mine's property.
1960–2000

In 1962, Peabody expanded into the Pacific with the opening of mining operations in Queensland, Australia.[13] During this period Peabody also forged an equity partnership with the Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co, and the Australian construction company Thiess.[16] In 1968, the company was purchased by the Kennecott Copper Corporation. However, the Federal Trade Commission challenged the purchase as an antitrust violation. In 1976, the FTC ordered Kennecott to divest itself of Peabody. The newly created Peabody Holding Company purchased the Peabody Coal business of Kennecott for $1.1 billion, and a consortium of companies controlled Peabody-Holding.[15]

Because of a federal contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the company was among 153 named in 1978 discrimination complaint with the Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. The complaint, filed by the Coal Employment Project, a women’s advocacy organization, was based upon Executive Order 11246 signed in 1965 by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, which bars sex discrimination by companies with federal contracts. The complaint called for the hiring of one woman for every three inexperienced men until women constituted 20 percent of the workforce.[17] This legal strategy was successful. Almost 3,000 women were hired by the close of 1979 as underground miners.[18]

In the 1980s, Peabody expanded its operations in the Eastern United States, acquiring the West Virginia coal mines of Armco in 1984.[19] The company sought to broaden its metallurgical coal portfolio through the purchase of Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates' seven West Virginia mines in 1987.[13] Peabody also expanded westward, opening the North Antelope and Rochelle mines in the low sulfur Wyodak seam in the heart of Wyoming's Powder River Basin in 1983 and 1984, respectively.[16]

The passage of the Clean Air Act amendments in 1990 prompted the closure of some Peabody mines. However, other mines under its ownership were able to remain in operation due to the implementation of new equipment and procedures that reduced sulfur dioxide emissions.[13] Stricter requirements outlined in Phase II of the legislation also prompted Peabody to invest in emissions-reducing technologies. In 1990, the U.K.-based conglomerate Hanson, one of the owners of Peabody Holding at the time, bought out the rest of the owners.[20]

In 1993, Peabody Energy expanded their holdings in the Pacific with the acquisition of three mines in Australia and subsequently developed a fourth operation in New South Wales.[21] Peabody also expanded its operations domestically with acquisitions in New Mexico in 1993 and Wyoming in 1994 and assumed a stake in Black Beauty, a Midwest producer, in response to increased demand for metallurgical coal.[13][22]
2001–2009

In 1996, Hanson demerged Peabody and Eastern Group under the name The Energy Group. When TXU acquired The Energy Group, Peabody was sold to Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners. The company filed an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2001, and since this time it has operated as a publicly traded company.[13] In 2002, Peabody launched its Peabody Energy Australia Coal Co. following the acquisition of the Wilkie Creek Mine in Queensland's Surat Basin.[23] The North Goonyella coal mine was acquired by Peabody in 2004.[24] In October 2006, Peabody completed an acquisition of Excel Coal Limited, an independent coal company in Australia. Peabody paid $1.52 billion for Excel and also assumed $227 million of Excel's debt. At the time, Excel owned three operating mines and three development-stage mines in Australia. Additionally, Excel had an estimated 500 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves.[25]

The company advanced a number of coal-to-liquids and coal-to-gas projects to reduce emissions during the decade.[26] On August 30, 2007, Ernie Fletcher, the governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky signed into state law a bill that will provide approximately $300 million in incentives to Peabody to build a coal gasification plant in that state.[27] The resulting incentives were provisioned in the form of breaks on sales taxes, incentive taxes and coal severance taxes.[27] In 2007, Peabody and a consortium of municipal electric cooperatives began construction on the 1600-megawatt Prairie State Energy Campus clean coal project in Lively Grove, Illinois.[28] The company retained a five percent equity stake in the project, which was expected to begin generating power for customers in 2011.[29] Peabody sold its stake in the Prairie State project to the Wabash Valley Power Association in 2016.[30]
2010 - 2011: Peabody predicts long-term supercycle in coal prices

At the 2010 World Energy Congress, Peabody CEO Gregory Boyce proposed a plan that advocated for the expanded use of coal worldwide, placing emphasis on geographic areas with limited or no access to electricity.[31]

In 2010, Peabody CEO Gregory Boyce told investors that global demand for coal was entering a multi-year growth period, stating "We're in the early stages of a 30-year supercycle in global coal markets."[32]

In 2011 the company reiterated that "the coal supercycle is just getting underway."[33][34]
2012-2016: Net losses and bankruptcy

Peabody reported net losses in excess of $500 million annually for each calendar year during 2012 through 2014, and a net loss of nearly $2 billion for 2015.[35][36]

For the quarter ended March 31, 2016, Peabody reported a net loss of $165 million. Sales revenue decreased by $539 million compared to the same period in the prior year, reflecting lower coal prices and reduced demand for steel.[37][38]

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 13, 2016.[38]

In November 2016, the day after Donald Trump won the US presidential election, shares of Peabody Energy surged more than 50 percent.[39][40] On April 3, 2017 it emerged from bankruptcy and started trading on the NYSE with a ticker symbol of BTU.[11]

All figures in the following "Net Income (Loss)" table were obtained from Peabody's Form 10-K for periods ended December 31, 2014, and December 31, 2019, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.


In October 2017, a judge ruled that Peabody Energy's bankruptcy protected it from "global-warming lawsuits brought by California coastal communities [in July 2017] against fossil-fuel companies."[43]

In 2018, Peabody announced it plans to invest $10 million in a partnership with London-based Arq, a company that is advancing technology to convert coal into oil products.[44]

On December 3 Peabody completed its purchase of the Shoal Creek Seaborne metallurgical coal mine from private coal producer Drummond Company, Inc. for $387 million.[45]

In 2021, U.S. coal industry veteran Jim Grech was appointed the new president and CEO of Peabody effective June 1.[1]
Lines of business

Peabody Energy's world headquarters is in St. Louis, and, as of 2014, it also maintains offices in London, Beijing, Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, Essen, Balikpapan, and Jakarta.[46][47][48] In the U.S. West, Peabody operates Powder River Basin operations in Wyoming as well as other mining operations in Arizona and New Mexico. Operations in the U.S. Midwest consist of mines in Indiana and Illinois. Peabody also operates a single underground mine in Colorado. All of these assets are occupied with the mining, preparation, and selling of coal to utility companies or steelmakers.[47]

Peabody's Australian operations consist of metallurgical and thermal coal mining operations in Queensland and New South Wales. Purchasers of its coal product include Australian utility companies or steel producers.[49]

The Trading and Brokerage function is primarily concerned with the brokering of coal sales, trading coal, and freight or freight-related contracts.[50] A smaller division of Peabody Energy deals with mining, export, and transportation joint ventures, energy-related commercial activities, and the management of Peabody's operations and holdings. With a growing demand for coal across Asian markets, especially in China, Indonesia, and India, Peabody has expanded its presence in Asia through offices in China, Indonesia, and Singapore.[50]
Black Mesa controversy
Main article: Black Mesa Peabody Coal controversy

In 1964 Peabody Energy subsidiary Peabody Western Coal signed a series of lease agreements with the Navajo tribe and two years later with the Hopi tribe for mineral rights as well as the use of a water source on the Black Mesa, a 2.1-million-acre highland in Northeast Arizona.[51] The company's contracts with the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe were approved despite opposition from those who disputed the authority of the official tribal councils.[52] They were also negotiated by natural resources attorney John Sterling Boyden, who represented the Hopi tribe but whose firm had also represented Peabody in other legal matters, contributing to allegations of a conflict of interest.[53]

When rail negotiations to transport coal from the project broke down, Peabody designed a coal slurry pipeline similar to a natural gas pipeline to transport the coal 273 miles to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada. The company pumped potable water from the underground Navajo Aquifer (N-aquifer) to supply the slurry pipeline, a solution that generated controversy. The Navajo Aquifer is a main source of potable water for the Navajo and Hopi tribes, who use the water for farming and livestock maintenance as well as drinking and other domestic uses. Members of the tribes as well as outside environmental groups have alleged that the pumping of water by Peabody Energy has caused contamination of water sources and a severe decline in potable water. Peabody contends that operations consumed only one percent of the aquifer's water.