Cummins Creek Mine

In the early 1980s, the Lower Colorado River Authority submitted plans for a lignite strip mine. The Authority proposed the mine to cover 10,000-11,000 acres in Cummins Creek basin, in northern Fayette County, near Waldeck and Nechanitz. The mine was intended to supply fuel to the nearby Fayette Power Project.

However, the proposal triggered a wide array of resistance. Environmental concerns were raised by the Fayette County Resource Watch (run by Pat Johnson, Debbie Wilson and Dan Rost in the early days) and Central Texas Lignite Watch (led by John Prager), with legal counsel from Jim Blackburn. Media coverage in the Bastrop County Times showed that the mine contractor, Morrison-Knudsen, was running a brothel, poker games, and all-night parties for their LCRA clients. Internal pressures from LCRA trustees John Scanlan and Pinky Wilson created further questions about the mine.

In 1985, the LCRA board fired consultants and staff, hired David Freeman as its General Manager, and withdrew support for the mine in favor of more cost-efficient, higher-BTU content Wyoming coal. Dropping the mine proposal came at a significant financial cost of some $200 million on mining equipment that had already been purchased.