Alleging 758 violations of the Clean Water Act and Alabama mining laws at the Shannon coal mine in Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties, Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed suit against a subsidiary of the Drummond Company Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

The suit comes on the heels of a pending consent decree between the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Drummond-owned Shannon LLC over violations at the mine. In the consent decree, ADEM found "96 discrete violations" within the last year and fined the company $36,200.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a clean water advocacy group, sued over violations acknowledged by the mine dating back to February of 2010.

Officials with Drummond did not return calls seeking comment.

ADEM water monitoring records show the discharges from the mine were routinely two to five times higher than permitted levels for a variety of regulated compounds, such as total suspended solids and elements including selenium and iron.

The ADEM report documents 26 instances where monthly averages for the discharges exceeded permitted levels. There were 47 instances where the company failed to monitor its discharges as required for months at a time. And 18 episodes where the company failed to report that it had exceeded discharge limits for at least a month at multiple outfalls.

"The Department has proposed the issuance of a Consent Order with a $36,270 civil penalty. We have just completed a 30 day public comment period to allow citizens an opportunity to comment on this proposed enforcement action," said Scott Hughes, with ADEM. "We are reviewing comments that were submitted and once that process is complete the Department will make a final decision on the issuance of the Consent Order."

Under state law, the mining company could be subjected to fines of $25,000 per violation.

The mine covers more than 6,000 acres, according to the suit, and has 76 discharges for mining wastes. Those discharges flow into Bankhead Lake via multiple tributaries of the Black Warrior River, including Blue Creek, Lick Branch, Little Blue Creek, Mud Creek, Rockcastle Creek, and Valley Creek.