Frelsburg, TX: LCRA Cummins Creek Lignite Coal Mine and Bucket Wheel Excavators

(Satellite???)

LCRA = Lower Colorado River Authority    This Colorado River is in Texas instead of between California and Arizona. And according to a label on Google Maps, the Colorado River is also named Cummins Creek.

4 of 94 images shared by Steve Kole that are in his "LCRA Cummins Creek Lignite Coal Surface Mine-1988" album.

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[The three Bucket Wheel Excavators are relatively small because long conveyor belts are used to carry the dirt to the other side of the mine and the coal to the power station. After each cut, the conveyor belts would have to be moved. The BWEs mine the top seam of coal and a dragline (" 8200 Marion Dresser Dragline (70 cy)") and haul trucks mine the lower seam of coal.]

I spent quite a bit of time trying to find the location of this mine. But the search results were mostly about water pollution, and I could not find an address in any of those results. I did find these brown spots near Cummins Creek. And when I zoomed out to find a nearby town (Frelsburg), I kept finding more and more brown spots. The Facebook post mentions the town of Ledbetter, which is further northwest. Cummins Creek is just west of Ledbetter. But I could not find any evidence of strip mining in that area. Maybe Texas improved their regulations for land reclamation. If you know the location of this mine and/or its power station, please leave a comment.

Satellite