Drive-By Truckers Help Get the Group Started

A new citizen-based organization, Tennessee Riverkeeper, has been created to protect the Tennessee River and its tributaries by enforcing environmental laws and educating the public, according a press release.

The organization was approved by non-profit Waterkeeper Alliance which licenses the Riverkeeper trademark, according to David Whiteside, one of the founders. The group has set up an office in Decatur near the geographic center of the main stretch of the Tennessee River and plans to open a second office upstream in the state of Tennessee.

The organization has submitted an application to the IRS for a 501(c)(3) non-profit status, Whiteside said, and the group plans to address sewage from failing waste water treatment plants and “point source” industrial pollution as top priority pollution threats. The organization will monitor polluters and their pollution permits, respond to citizen complaints, and utilize other methods to further protect the Tennessee River and its tributaries. When the organization discovers illegal pollution, Tennessee Riverkeeper will enforce environmental laws, he said.

Tennessee Riverkeeper is against the proposed TEPPCO fuel depot a half-mile upstream from Decatur, Alabama’s only drinking water intake.

“The Tennessee River basin is one of the most biologically diverse watersheds in the world,” Whiteside said.

Tennessee Riverkeeper exists primarily for the people, he said. to protect the river and its tributaries for the citizens of the Tennessee Valley for improved public health and the betterment of communities.

“Because of our River, there’s already a sense of unity among the good people of the Tennessee Valley. We are all interconnected neighbors upstream and downstream and everyone needs clean water, whether you’re black or white, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat,” he said. “These waterways are owned by the public, not government or industry. Tennessee Riverkeeper advocates for the watershed to ensure that future generations will inherit safe, clean water in their communities.”

The organization was created by David Whiteside and Mark Martin. David Whiteside will serve as Executive Director, managing the non-profit and raising funds.

Whiteside founded non-profit Black Warrior Riverkeeper in Alabama in 2001. He worked as a political correspondent in 2008 for MTV’s Choose or Lose, which won an EMMY that year. Whiteside is the great nephew of Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. who fought to desegregate the South and the godson of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who serves as the President of the Waterkeeper Alliance, of which Tennessee Riverkeeper is a member.

Mark Martin will serve as staff Riverkeeper, a position in charge of monitoring the river for pollution. Mark Martin is an environmental attorney with years of experience enforcing the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws. He was named a Sierra Club Legal Hero for his work. Tennessee Riverkeeper is governed by a Board of Directors.

Tennessee Riverkeeper has already received some support from some influential individuals in addition to Kennedy including Muscle Shoals native musician Patterson Hood and his band Drive-By Truckers.

“I grew up on The Tennessee River (and Shoal Creek),” Hood said. “The water systems in and around my hometown community are our most valuable treasure and it’s preservation and restoration should be our absolute top priority for the long term health and well-being (physically and financially) of our community. I am proud to be involved with Tennessee Riverkeeper.”

For more information, see the group’s new Website at TennesseeRiver.org and contact David Whiteside at DWhiteside@BlackWarriorRiver.org, or (205) 527-7595. Contact Mark Martin at (205) 516-9350 or P.O. Box 2594, Decatur, AL 35602.

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Tags: Drive-By Truckers, Tennessee Riverkeeper Group Formed in Decatur

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Environment News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.