LEGAL DOCKET (WINTER 2007)

NEW CASES

Birmingham International Airport (Jefferson County)

    For years, RIVERKEEPER has collected pollution evidence from the Birmingham Airport’s expansion. The project is causing significant and ongoing violations of the Clean Water Act by discharging extremely turbid (muddy) water. The discharge causes water quality violations in the receiving stream, Village Creek, every time there is a major rain. Riverkeeper served Open Records requests on the Airport, the City of Birmingham, and ADEM in an attempt to examine public records pertaining to the stormwater discharges and whether they have done the monitoring required by federal law. The public records search was discouraging, as the Airport requested a prohibitive $2 per page for copies and will not allow us to bring our own copiers. Because our suggestions for improvement have been ignored for years, Riverkeeper sent a Notice of Intent to Sue on January 30, 2007. We continue to perform our own turbidity testing.

Airport expansion pollutes Village Creek with sediment, exacerbating flood potential, scenic concerns, and the activity of preexisting toxins.   © Nelson Brooke

ONGOING CASES

East Walker County Waste Water Treatment Plant (Walker County)

    Riverkeeper filed Notice of Intent to Sue the East Walker Sewer Authority on August 15, 2005 for illegal discharges into the Black Warrior’s Mulberry Fork. We allege 4,473 violations of this plant’s permit. ADEM then filed their own lawsuit. We filed a Motion to Intervene in their lawsuit, but Judge Beard denied our motion. Since the Alabama Code gives an unconditional right to intervene, on January 23, 2007, we filed an appeal to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, in the hopes that we can intervene and promote real progress.

East Walker Co. Wastewater Treatment Plant
© Nelson Brooke 2005

BARD v. SWMA (Jefferson County)

    On June 20, 2006, Riverkeeper and the Cahaba River Society filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit brought against Jefferson County's Storm Water Management Authority (SWMA) by the Business Alliance for Responsible Development (BARD) and others. SWMA is a local agency protecting citizens and property from the litter, sediment and petrochemicals that rain washes into waterways. While SWMA is not perfect, BARD’s plan to limit their activities would be a major blow to Jefferson County’s water quality. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is providing our legal representation along with our Chief Prosecuting Attorney, Mark Martin. The Federal Judge recently remanded the case to State Court. SELC filed an intervention in the State Court on our behalf.

City Of Moundville HCR Lagoon (Hale County)

    Moundville operates a small, outdated lagoon system for waste water treatment. This facility discharges directly into the Black Warrior River, near the public boat launch and archeological park. Riverkeeper issued Notice of Intent to Sue on December 14, 2005 alleging 1,486 violations of its NPDES permit. After the expiration of the 60 day notice period, we elected not to file suit because were given reason to believe that Moundville was about to make necessary improvements to stop the violations. However, after a year, it is apparent that they are still in serious violation, having incurred an additional 649 violations. Riverkeeper served a second NOIS on November 17, 2006. We then learned that the Alabama Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Moundville back in February 2006. Riverkeeper has prepared an intervention in that lawsuit in the hopes of promoting an effective outcome.

Moundville Lagoon discharges improperly treated sewage into the Black Warrior right next to the city’s public boat launch and renowned archeological park.
© Nelson Brooke.     Flight provided by Southwings.org

Riley Maze Waste Water Treatment Plant (Marshall County)

    This plant is in serious violation of polluting an upper tributary of the Black Warrior’s Mulberry Fork. In the past five years, the system has experienced at least 40 unpermitted discharges of raw sewage in violation of its NPDES permit. It also had 331 violations of the discharge parameters of its permit, mostly for total suspended solids (TSS) and Fecal Coliform. Riverkeeper served Notice of Intent to Sue (NOIS) on October 26, 2006 stating that we intend to sue this facility after the required 60 day notice period expires. ADEM issued a unilateral order for this WWTP and posted the order on December 13, 2006 for public notice. Riverkeeper then filed a public comment on January 12, expressing our concern that ADEM’s order does not adequately address the six penalty factors required by state law, particularly the benefit from noncompliance. We continue to monitor this WWTP’s discharges and ADEM’s reactions.

The Riley Maze WWTP in the city of Arab: 331 Clean Water Act violations and 40 illegal raw sewage discharges.  © Nelson Brooke