Birmingham Airport Pollution Case Settled
February 18th, 2009The Black Warrior Riverkeeper non-profit environmental group settled its pollution case against the Birmingham Airport Authority and Dunn Construction Company on Wednesday, February 18, according to a digital press release.
United States District Court Judge Inge P. Johnson approved the settlement including a payment of $150,000 and injunctive relief requiring steps to curtail pollution.
The money will pay for litigation expenses as well as a Supplemental Environmental Project, a land conservation project in Jefferson County’s Village Creek watershed. Black Warrior Riverkeeper chose the Freshwater Land Trust, an Alabama non-profit land conservation organization, to receive the SEP payment from the Birmingham Airport Authority and Dunn Construction.
“Black Warrior Riverkeeper is pleased that the entire SEP payment will benefit the Village Creek watershed,” according to the press release.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act on April 3, 2007 against the Birmingham Airport Authority and its contractor, Dunn Construction, alleging that muddy water from much of the Airport’s runway extension project had been inadequately contained or treated. The construction storm water runoff polluted Village Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River’s Locust Fork. Sedimentation from storm water runoff is one of the leading causes of impairment in Alabama’s streams and rivers.
Open this PDF file to read the settlement agreement or check out the original lawsuit.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper is the non-profit organization with the mission to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. The Alabama Environmental Council’s 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year, and the American Canoe Association’s 2008 Green Paddle Award winner, the group is a grassroots member of Waterkeeper Alliance.
The Freshwater Land Trust is a non-profit organization with the mission of stewardship of lands that enhance water quality and preserve open space.
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February 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Every little bit helps.Over the next 1,000 years we’ll need water much more than a bigger airport, I’ll wager.