The Black Warrior Riverkeeper environmental group is asking concerned citizens to take a stand for the river and Birmingham’s drinking water by attending a public hearing Thursday August 19 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Bevill State Community College, Sumiton Campus, Building 1400. The Sumiton Campus is located in Walker County on Highway 78.

This Alabama Surface Mining Commission public hearing is an opportunity for citizens to express their concerns with the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine permit. The ASMC is no longer accepting comments sent directly to them, but will accept your comments –- whether technical or simple, lengthy or one-line –- that we will print and hand deliver to them for you at the public hearing on Thursday.

If issued by the ASMC, this permit will authorize the initial phase of strip mining for coal on Shepherd Bend along the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River (northwest of Birmingham and southwest of Dora and Sumiton in Walker County).

The total permit area for the mine is slated to be 1,773 acres. Mining wastewater discharges would occur just eight hundred feet from the Birmingham Water Works Board’s Mulberry water intake station, putting 10 of the mine’s 29 wastewater discharges upstream of the water source.

The group sent the commission a letter of opposition to the mine stating concerns with water quality degradation, increased treatment costs, and decreased tap water quality.

Not only will this mine pose a threat to Birmingham’s drinking water supply, but also it will diminish water quality, wildlife habitat, and quality of life for property owners around the Mulberry Fork.

Downstream in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama System owns the majority of the land at Shepherd Bend that would be mined. They would have to lease their property to the mining company in order for the mining to occur.

Feel free to share your concerns with the UA System at (205) 975-5566 in Birmingham or (205) 348-5861 in Tuscaloosa.

For more information, see our previous story at:
Environment Commission Considers Shepherd Bend Mine.

Tags: Birmingham Waterworks, Mercedes Alabama, Mulberry Fork, Shepherd Bend Coal Mine Public Hearing Thursday August 19, Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama

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