Black Mesa Coal Mine and Pipeline, Arizona

A large mine, where the coal was extracted, pulverized, and mixed with water to form a slurry, which was then transported through a pipeline for 273 miles to the Mojave Generating Station, a power plant in Laughlin, Nevada, that provide power mostly for Los Angeles. At the time, the 18-inch diameter pipe was the longest coal-slurry pipeline operating in the U.S. The mine closed in 2005, following the closure of the Mojave Generating Station (the sole customer for the mine's coal). The slurry required 1.3 billion gallons of water a year, extracted  from the Navajo Aquifer (the main source of drinking water for residents of Black Mesa), and the Navajo and Hopi Tribal Councils banned the use of groundwater from the Navajo Aquifer in the transportation of coal. The mine was operated by Peabody Western Coal Company, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy.