Drummond Company
Drummond Company, Inc. is a privately-owned coal-mining and processing company with its headquarters on U.S. Highway 78 in Jasper. It was founded in 1935 by H. E. Drummond. The company, which netted an estimated $2 billion in profits in 2006, employs 5,100 in operations in Alabama and Columbia. The current CEO is Garry Drummond, Sr.
Drummond operates Alabama's largest coal mine, the Shoal Creek Mine near Adger as well as the La Loma mine in the Cesar department in northern Colombia. Both mines produce bituminous coal. Shoal Creek's coal is processed on site and delivered under long-term contract to Alabama Power by barges on the Black Warrior River. Coal from La Loma, which opened in 1995 and now represents about half of that county's coal exports, is conveyed by train to the Caribbean Sea and sold on the global market.
Drummond also operates the ABC Coke plant in Tarrant, which processes coal into foundry coke used in casting operations. The company also operates Perry Supply, a mining and industrial equipment supplier founded in 1913.
In addition to its industrial activities, Drummond Company is involved in land management and real-estate development, primarily through joint ventures in Florida, California and Alabama. Drummond partnered with Torchmark in the development of Liberty Park, now part of Vestavia Hills.
Estate of Rodriquez v. Drummond Company
- In April 2003 the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama agreed to hear a case brought by the Sintraminergetica labor union and the families of Valmore Locarno Rodriguez and Victor Hugo Orcasita Amaya, two union officials who were tortured and murdered by a paramilitary group. The suit claimed that Drummond Company officials collaborated with, funded and equipped such groups to provide security and discourage union activity and that the murders were carried out on the company's behalf. Part of the case was premised on the Alien Torts Claims Act, which was passed as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 in response to rampant piracy. The claim, then, is the Drummond committed crimes against humanity which were implicitly sanctioned by the United States, amounting to war crimes. The federal jury was not convinced by these claims and, in their July 26, 2007 verdict held Drummond not liable for the union officials' deaths.
References
- "Drummond Company." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Jul 2007, 04:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 14 Aug 2007 [1].
- Estate of Rodriguez v. Drummond Co., 256 F. Supp. 2d 1250 (N. D. Ala. 2003)