The fight by a north Jefferson County woman to keep a nearby coal mine from expanding its operations has now drawn an unlikely ally — an endangered snail species.

The Black Warrior Riverkeeper (BWR) environmental advocacy group is investigating whether the Black Warrior Minerals mine, located just off Sardis Road, may be endangering the plicate rock snail. The species is one of several whose habitat is found along the Locust Fork of the Warrior River, which runs near the mine.

Peggy Harris, a nearby resident who is fighting an application by Black Warrior Minerals to roughly double the mine’s size, brought in BWR to see if there were environmental problems caused by the current mine.

John Kelly, an enforcement coordinator for BWR, said that the area near the mine is a potential home for several threatened or endangered species.

“The Cahaba shiner [fish], the flattened musk turtle and a couple of other threatened species are involved,” Kelly said. “Those species could be threatened by poor-quality water being discharged by the mine.”

Black Warrior Minerals has been cited at mines elsewhere for numerous violations by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), Kelly added.

BWR also contends that the blasting permit issued by ADEM for the mine expired, because it was issued in September 2008 but blasting did not begin until May 2011. Blasting must begin no longer than 18 months after the permit is granted, Kelly said.

Harris, who says that mine blasting is causing damage to her property and that of several neighbors, is organizing a meeting for local residents to inform them of their rights against the mine operator. Attorney Clay Ragsdale is hoping to find other residents who have been affected by mine operations.

The meeting will be held Thursday at 6 p.m. at the old schoolhouse in front of Sardis Baptist Church.