Luminant and its parent company Energy Future Holdings are struggling with more than $30 billion in debt and a rapidly dwindling cash flow with analysts suggesting the company may be bankrupt by year-end.
Despite this, the company has initiated a lawsuit for the remaining 25% of a 9.1-acre plot of land it needs to begin a mining operation in Dirgin, Texas.
Mining cannot begin until Luminant has the entire plot due to a complex inheritance arrangement and opposition from the family.
The Associated Press reports that following three years of stagnant negotiations between the company and the landowners, Luminant has launched a lawsuit seeking the division of the land or a settlement, claiming the current inhabitants don't legally own the land.
The oldest landowner, Ida Finley, is 101 and says her family has owned the plot since the abolition of slavery.
As well as the ongoing tussle, Luminant has rubbed residents in Tatam up the wrong way after it received approval from the Texas Railroad Commission to expand its mine in the area despite its ongoing financial struggles.
Environmental groups and residents are concerned the company will not have the money for mine restoration but a Luminant spokesman told the AP it had historically restored all 70,000 acres it had mined and if it did need to file for bankruptcy, this commitment to restoration wouldn’t change.
