Glynn Wilson

Fog in Autumn on The Locust Fork River

In another challenge to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s failure to protect the purity of the state’s waterways, the Southern Environmental Law Center today petitioned for a hearing on the permit issued last month for a 3,255-acre coal mine in Blount County.

The proposed mine would have more than 60 pollution discharge points into the main stem or feeder streams of the Locust Fork, a tributary of the Black Warrior River that is already on ADEM’s list of the worst polluted streams in the state, mainly due to sediment.

The petition was filed on behalf of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper and The Friends of the Locust Fork River.

The law center already represents the Black Warrior Riverkeeper in an ongoing legal challenge of ADEM’s actions in permitting the Shepherd Bend coal mine in Walker County. In both cases, the agency has ignored federal and state laws and its own regulations, according to a press release..

“Ultimately, the problem goes beyond these projects, and lands squarely on the shoulders of ADEM which is consistently failing to protect water quality throughout the state,” SELC Senior Attorney Gil Rogers said. “The Rosa and Shepherd Bend coal mines are exhibit A.”

The Rosa coal mine permit is deficient in numerous ways. The mine would discharge pollution into a segment of Locust Fork which is listed by ADEM as “impaired” under the Clean Water Act. Alabama law prohibits causing or contributing to the pollution of an impaired water body. The agency acknowledged the impaired status of the Locust Fork in their permit rationale, but issued the permit anyway.

“ADEM needs to quit rubber-stamping these pollution permits and get serious about its role as the environmental regulator of coal mine operations,” Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke said. “Our waterways are much too precious to be so utterly neglected and exploited.”

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Glynn Wilson

Lee Isaacs paddles with ease over the shoals of the Locust Fork River Saturday along with the Friends of the Locust Fork environmental group on section 6 of the river from Highway 13 to the Blaylock Bridge. I posted a few photos on Facebook at this link.

Meanwhile, I’m too tired and sun burned to write a Sunday column, so here’s one from the archives: Secret Vistas: A River Runs Through It.

The Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of the Locust Fork River have submitted a nomination for 3,200 acres along the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River in Jefferson County and Blount Counties to be protected as public property by the Alabama Forever Wild Program.

The property, currently owned by the Birmingham Water Works Board, has been for sale since the beginning of April. This opportunity arose after the BWWB chose to discontinue longstanding plans for a dam on the river (to create a water supply reservoir). Now that this project is no longer going to occur, the threat to the Locust Fork’s free-flow is no longer, and the time is right to protect this property, according to the group’s press release.

A conservation purchase by Forever Wild could help this gateway to the Locust Fork become a resource for current and future generations.

The Locust Fork is one of Alabama’s longest remaining free-flowing rivers. It is a great place to swim, canoe and kayak, fish, photograph, watch wildlife, and more. The river is also home to a number of rare aquatic species such as fish, mussels, snails, turtles, and salamanders.

Protection of this property would provide watershed protection that is vital for both water quality and wildlife habitat. A Forever Wild acquisition will provide much needed public access for the many recreational users that visit the Locust Fork each year.

To read the nomination and view its attachments, click here.

For information, click here.

The Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of the Locust Fork environmental groups have settled their lawsuit against Metro Recycling for polluting the Locust Fork River with pollution from a used tire landfill in Blount County, Alabama.

U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler approved the settlement requiring Metro Recycling to cease illegal discharges of pollutants, obtain a pollution permit mandated by the Clean Water Act, and pay $7,500 for a Supplemental Environmental Project in the Locust Fork watershed.

The money will fund aquatic surveys in the Locust Fork watershed which will be used to determine future conservation goals within the watershed, according to a joint press release issued by the groups this week.

The parties chose the Freshwater Land Trust, an Alabama non-profit land conservation organization, to receive Metro Recycling’s payment and enable the aquatic surveys.

Metro Recycling owns and operates a used-tire landfill, which was found during Riverkeeper patrols to be discharging pollutants into an unnamed tributary of Whites Creek, a tributary of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. Laboratory results from Riverkeeper’s water samples showed the pollutants illegally discharged by Metro Recycling included: Benzene (a known carcinogen), Chloromethane (possible carcinogen), 1,2-Dichloroethane (probable carcinogen), Ethylbenzene, Toluene, Vinyl Chloride (known carcinogen), and Xylenes, o,m,p.

Metro Recycling violated the Clean Water Act and Alabama law by discharging pollutants without a proper permit, according to Nelson Brooke, Riverkeeper and Executive Director of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

“As Riverkeeper of this large watershed, help from committed locals who serve as my eyes, nose, and ears is crucial,” Brooke said in an e-mail interview. “We would not have known about this problem without concerned locals reporting it to us. Working in concert with locals we are an important voice for citizens when our state and federal agencies fail to adequately enforce environmental laws. Under our watch, polluters will be held accountable.”

The settlement money will help the environmental groups better understand the river’s aquatic biodiversity and act as better stewards in future conservation efforts.

“The Friends of the Locust Fork River is glad to be part of an opportunity to update the aquatic survey of the mid-70s through the Supplemental Environmental Settlement portion of the suit with Metro Tire Landfill,” according to Sam Howell, president of the group. “The study will indicate the current health of the Locust Fork River and give FLFR and Black Warrior Riverkeeper information on how to be better stewards of this river’s watershed. I am pleased The Freshwater Land Trust accepted the request to be the facilitator of the $7500.00 to begin the renewed aquatic study. I know the results will make the river and the communities surrounding it a better place to live.”

The Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River is a remarkable free-flowing river. Flowing for 159 miles out of Etowah, Marshall, and Blount counties into Jefferson County, the river is an outstanding resource for locals and visitors alike.

Click here for the settlement agreement.

Click here for the original lawsuit.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries.

Friends of the Locust Fork is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the integrity of the Locust Fork River in its natural free-flowing state, and to that end, the lifestyle of the community which surrounds it.

Freshwater Land Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is the acquisition and stewardship of lands that enhance water quality and preserve open space.

The Locust Fork News-Journal is an independent online news organization inspired in part by the Locust Fork River. To understand why, read these signature stories about it.

Secret Vistas: A River Runs Through It

The Future of Democracy and the Web Press