December BRGS Meeting: Louisiana Lignite - The Untold Story of the First Louisiana Commercial Coal Mine

The story of Louisiana’s first coal mine is an epic adventure that spans over years from initial lignite exploration by Central Louisiana Electric Company (CLECO) in north Louisiana in 1954 to closure of the lignite surface mine and demolition of the Dolet Hills Power Plant in 2025.

The story begins when CLECO hired three geology students from Louisiana State University in the summers of 1954 and 1955 to conduct exploration drilling in DeSoto, Red River and Sabine Parishes. The results of this exploration program were promising and identified an area of potential mineable lignite resources. CLECO formed Pine Land Development Corporation and began acquiring tracts of fee land in the resource area. CLECO also hired an engineer who had worked on the Panama Canal to conduct a study on the feasibility of using large draglines to surface mine the lignite.

The ensuing years from 1977 to mining operations beginning in September 1985 saw intense lignite exploration drilling to define the mineable limits of the lignite reserve; continued acquisition of rights to mine lignite from over 1,000 landowner groups; land reclamation research; drafting Louisiana’s surface coal mining regulations; obtaining primacy from the federal government to regulate surface coal mining; extensive environmental and cultural resources investigations; moving 8 ½ miles of Interstate 49; negotiating a contract for surface mining lignite with a British mine engineering firm and its American partner; and mine permitting with the State of Louisiana. In August 1981, CLECO and Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) announced plans to jointly construct the 640-megawatt Dolet Hills Power Plant at a construction cost of $500 million, to begin operation in 1986, and development of the 30,000-acre lignite surface mine to produce 2.5 million tons of lignite annually as fuel for the plant. A new industry was being born in northwest Louisiana – a fact unknown to most of its citizens. 

There were many memorable events associated with the development and operation of the Dolet Hills Lignite mine. Some were environmentally complex, technically challenging, governmental obstacles and others were tragic and sad.  In spite of operating with 300 employees and 100 contract workers around the clock, seven days a week for over 36 years, there was only one fatality to occur at the surface mine.

The last lignite delivery from the mine to the plant was in October 2021. The Dolet Hills electric generating plant ceased operations in December 2021 and was imploded on October 6, 2025. Watching the demolition of the power plant with several workers who had spent their careers working at the plant for 19 to 29 ½ years was like watching the execution of an old friend. Closure of the mine and demolition of the power plant allows for the former mine to be developed into a solar farm to generate electricity. 

David Ray Williamson is a Licensed Professional Geoscientist in Louisiana, and a Registered/Licensed Geoscientist/Geologist in Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.  He is a graduate of Millsaps College with a BS degree in Geology. He has completed graduate courses in Geology at Mississippi State University, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Missouri. 

 Mr. Williamson has served as a Board Member of the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists and Chair of the License Review Committee since 2018.  He is a National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Council of Educators Subject Matter Expert in Geology.

He has over 50 years of experience in geological assessments, industrial mineral investigations, environmental investigations and project management.  He is the owner of Williamson & Associates, LLC – Geological and Environmental Consultants in Shreveport, Louisiana.