In spite of major public opposition and a direct threat to the drinking water supply of Alabama’s largest city, the corporate-controled Alabama Surface Mining Commission issued a permit to Shepherd Bend for a coal mine today on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.
The Black Warrior Riverkeeper, one of the primary non-profit citizen watchdog groups opposing the mine permit, issued a press release expressing its disappoint with the decision, which does not appear to be in the public interest.
According to information furnished in the application to the commission, that initial increment to be mined is approximately 34 acres of land wholly owned or leased by Shepherd Bend. Assuming the company chooses to mine that first small increment, Shepherd Bend will then have to obtain leases from other property owners, including the University of Alabama System.
In a letter emailed and mailed today to the UA System’s representatives, Black Warrior Riverkeeper reiterated an earlier request that the UA System’s Board of Trustees carefully consider any decision to lease land or mineral rights to Shepherd Bend.
“As a practical matter, without the consent and full participation of the UA System, it may not be cost effective to mine Shepherd Bend,” said Charles Scribner, executive director of the group.
The Tennessee Riverkeeper non-profit environmental watchdog group has served notice of its intent to sue the operators of Meredyth Mine in Winston and Franklin Counties for violations of the Clean Water Act.
The legal action is based on alleged illegal discharges into two tributaries of Bear Creek of the Tennessee River, according to a press release. The group’s notice lists 2,052 violations of the federal Clean Water Act since August 2008.
These pollution permit violations occurred at the Meredyth Mine located on Highway 243 near Haleyville, Alabama. The coal mine has violated its permit by illegally discharging excessive amounts of iron and total suspended solids between August 2008 and June 2010, the group claims.
“These are very serious violations with total suspended sediment levels reaching 24 times the permitted limits and total iron levels at almost five times the allowable levels,” Tennessee Riverkeeper and Executive Director of the group David Whiteside said. “When it is 24 times higher than the permitted limit it can reduce the penetration of light in the water column, clogging the gills of fish and other aquatic life, making it impossible for them to breathe.”
The Friends of the Locust Fork River will sponsor a public presentation by award winning photographer Beth Maynor Young entitled Headwaters: A Journey on Alabama Rivers, for The Covered Bridge Festival, Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m.
The event will be held at the Lester Memorial United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Oneonta, Alabama.
The work is from Young’s new book on Alabama rivers and will highlight the Locust Fork River and the Black Warrior watershed.
For more information, contact Leigh Lynn at Leigh@uab.edu or (205) 915-5493.
On Thursday, August 19, the Alabama Surface Mining Commission hosted a public hearing on an application for a coal mine called the Shepherd Bend Mine along the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River northwest of Birmingham and southwest of Dora and Sumiton. The commission has 60 days from August 19 to rule on the permit.
If issued, this permit will authorize strip mining for coal on Shepherd Bend, right across the river from the Birmingham Water Works Board’s Mulberry Fork drinking water intake, would likely result in mining-related pollutants traveling directly to the intake and to Birmingham’s water treatment facilities, according the Black Warrior Riverkeeper non-profit, public advocacy group.
“Not only will this mine pose a threat to Birmingham’s drinking water supply, but it will also threaten water quality, wildlife habitat recreation, aesthetics, and the peaceful way of life residents aim to have along the river,” Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke said in a statement today.
The Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Southern Environmental Law Center are challenging ADEM’s permit in court, according to the statement.
On its website, in large, bold typeface, the University of Alabama asserts itself as “an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.”
If that is truly the case, then I trust the University will decide not to lease the land it owns near Cordova in Walker County for the purpose of a 1,773-acre coal strip mine.
The land, called Shepherd Bend for its river-crafted crook shape, is situated on the Mulberry Fork of the Warrior River. All of 800 feet away sits a Birmingham Water Works drinking water intake that already copes with the discharge of one mine further upriver.
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 Gulf Oil Spill of 2010, otherwise known as the British Petroleum-Transocean-Halliburton Gusher of Death to the Gulf, presents a stark reality to those who have been willing to outsource natural resources in this land to foreign profiteers.
The upcoming Alabama Governor’s race and the race for Attorney General also present stark contrasts to investigate on who possess the leadership necessary to bring this state back from one of the worst economic and environmental calamities in our short but storied history. We will have more to say about that in the months ahead.
Politics aside, a group of non-profit organizations in this state are united in new proactive agenda and evaluation plan for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and its new director Lance LeFleur, who only recently came aboard after several tumultuous administrations.
We, as a new media news organization with an authoritative voice, are not sure this plan covers everything that needs to be done. We will have also have more to say about that in the months ahead.
But we run this statement in its entirety here today, for it represents a lot of hard work from some of the best minds thinking about the future of this state, and some of the best hearts in people who truly love this place.
Organizations Present Environmental Priorities to ADEM’s New Director
Coal ash is hazardous waste, and must be regulated under the most protective provisions of America’s hazardous waste laws now, according to David Whiteside and Mark Martin of the newly formed Tennessee Riverkeeper, featured in the video above.
Below you can learn more and take action like signing an online petition or writing your local representatives on the group’s Website at TennesseeRiver.Org.
“An Evening with Tuscaloosa’s Waterkeepers” will feature watershed presentations and new photography exhibits by the two Waterkeepers protecting Tuscaloosa-area waterways: Nelson Brooke (Black Warrior Riverkeeper) and John Wathen (Hurricane Creekkeeper).
Dr. Doug Phillips of Discovering Alabama will deliver a special introduction. The show is working on a new documentary on BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The admission, parking and food will be provided for free, although both nonprofit Waterkeeper Alliance organizations will accept and encourage optional donations.
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
