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Law center takes on ADEM over Rosa Mine permit
The proposed mine would have more than 60 discharge points into the Locust Fork or its tributaries. The Locust Fork is itself a tributary of the Black Warrior River, already on ADEM’s list of worst polluted rivers in the state as a result of sedimentation from mining. The SELC also represents the Black Warrior Riverkeeper in a challenge of ADEM’s action in permitting the Shepherd Bend coal mine in Walker County, located just upstream from a Birmingham Water Works drinking water intake. “Ultimately the problem goes beyond these projects, and lands squarely on the shoulders of ADEM, which consistently fails to protect water quality throughout the state ,” said the law center’s senior attorney Gil Rogers. Permit deficiencies The petition states that the permit granted by ADEM to the MCoal mining company is deficient in several ways: 1) The Rosa mine would discharge pollution into a segment of the Locust Fork that has been listed by ADEM as “impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act. Alabama law prohibits contributing to the pollution of an impaired body of water. While ADEM acknowledged the impaired status in the permit’s rationale, it issued the permit anyway. 2) ADEM issued the permit without receiving a pollution abatement and prevention plan, as its own rules require. 3) Following its practice of many years, ADEM allowed the mining company MCoal to submit an abatement plan to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission, which regulates mining operations, but has no authority over water pollution. Assessing a permit for compliance with water quality standards – ADEM’s job – without a pollution abatement plan is meaningless, the petition charges. 4) The Rosa Mine‘s permit limits for heavy metals, sediment, and other pollutants are virtually the same as for the Shepherd Bend mine, despite the fact that the Rosa Mine site is potentially much larger, has twice the number of discharge points, and is located in a stressed watershed. 5) The permit grants a sweeping exemption from all pollution limits during a period of heavy rainfall, even though such limits are intended precisely to protect streams from storm runoff. Criticism from environmental groups “ADEM has been asleep at the switch for far too long on these coal mine permits, and the Black Warrior watershed has suffered as a result. We will continue to take legal action to ensure that mining operations have as little impact on water quality as possible,” Rogers said. Speaking as Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Nelson Brooke said “ADEM needs to quit rubber-stamping these pollution permits and get serious about its role as the environmental regulator of coal mine operations. Our waterways are much too precious to be so utterly neglected and exploited.” Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a non-profit advocacy organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. ADEM rebuttal In a rebuttal reported in The Birmingham News, ADEM spokesman Scott Hughes said: “The allegations that ADEM has ignored federal and state laws and does not take seriously its obligation to protect water quality are completely without merit. Our scientists and engineers spent almost nine months reviewing the permit application for the Shepherd Bend facility, which totally contradicts the allegation that we rubber-stamp permits. The bottom line is that many environmental groups try to utilize our permits as a zoning tool to prevent an industry from locating in a specific area.” Sam Howell, president of Friends of the Locust Fork River, also commented concerning the petition for hearing. “This is one of the Locust Fork’s most scenic sections, and local citizens want to keep the river safe, after having seen it take 30 years to recover from past strip mining,” he said. The Friends of the Locust Fork River is a nonprofit grassroots group dedicated to preserving the Locust Fork River in its natural free-flowing state and the lifestyle of the community that surrounds it. The Black Warrior River watershed stretches over 6000 square miles, entirely within the state of Alabama. The river and its tributaries are a major source of drinking water for many cities including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The Locust Fork River is one of Alabama’s longest remaining free-flowing rivers, with a watershed located largely in Blount County. It is an outdoor wonderland of natural beauty and home to a number of rare floral and faunal species. The Warrior Coal Basin underlies the majority of the Black Warrior River watershed. It is the largest coal basin in Alabama with 94 active mines. Water quality in the river continues to be impaired from heavy metals, acids, and sediments that drain from active and abandoned mines, according to the Black Warrior Riverkeeper. |
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