Black Warrior Riverkeeper opposes the Shepherd Bend Mine, which would discharge wastewater from coal mining into the Black Warrior’s Mulberry Fork only 800 feet from a major drinking water intake for 200,000 customers of the Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB). We have been proud to partner with community groups, student organizations, and numerous scientists and public health advocates to point out the risks of permitting a coal mine so close to a major Birmingham drinking water intake. We have been especially impressed by Cordova community leaders as well as students from UA, UAB and Samford who have worked hard to educate others and publicize the potential impacts of the Shepherd Bend Mine.
Despite widespread opposition, on October 19, 2010 the Alabama Surface Mining Commission (ASMC) issued a permit to Shepherd Bend, LLC to mine 286 acres. The BWWB announced on November 17 that they are appealing this ASMC permit. The BWWB has offered detailed information as to how the wastewater discharges
from the mine will introduce toxic pollutants and sediment into the water, potentially leading to increased treatment costs (typically passed on to customers), decreased water quality, and possible health risks. The BWWB also stated that a mine this close to a major water intake would be “incompatible” and “unprecedented.” Of the 286 acres permitted for mining by ASMC, Shepherd Bend, LLC has the leases necessary to start mining an initial increment of 34 acres. If Shepherd Bend chooses to mine beyond that first small increment, they will have to obtain leases from other property owners, including the University of Alabama (UA) System, a major owner of both land and mineral rights at 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 at all.
With the Southern Environmental Law Center, Black Warrior Riverkeeper continues an appeal of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater discharge permit issued to Shepherd Bend, LLC by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) on July 21, 2008. This permit issued by ADEM in its own terms is in violation of federal and state law. The issuance of an NPDES permit is prohibited if the discharges allowed by that permit will cause or contribute to a violation of water quality criteria. Additionally, the ADEM permit would allow Shepherd Bend to discharge wastewater with 10 times the level of iron and 40 times the level of manganese recommended by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper has supplied expert testimony in the ADEM NPDES permit challenge about how the discharge of these pollutants would harm the river and drinking water. Dr. Robert Angus, a professor in the Biology Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, testified, “ADEM’s exemption of iron, manganese, and TSS from almost all precipitation events, and failure to include limits on TDS, sulfate, chlorides, aluminum and other heavy metals at all, will cause a violation of Alabama’s water quality standards because of its harm to fish and wildlife in the Mulberry Fork and its tributaries.”
According to the Expert Report of Warner Golden, P.E., a Senior Engineer and Partner with environmental consulting firm NewFields, “The entire [1,773 acre] site will discharge approximately 3,187 tons of sediment into downstream wetlands and the Mulberry Fork. This is the equivalent of 160 dump trucks of sediment resulting from one storm event.” While such a discharge might meet the legal requirements of ADEM’s NPDES permit, it will nonetheless do great harm to the river and Birmingham-area drinking water.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper has asked that the UA System not rely on ADEM’s and ASMC’s judgment; the permits they issued are not sufficiently protective of water quality. Dr. Arthur Benke, UA Professor of Biological Sciences, remarked in a recent Crimson White article, “it is fortunate that The University of Alabama owns much of this land and has the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of long-term stewardship rather than short term profit. I hope the University will see the wisdom in putting a stop to the proposed activity.”
In a letter sent October 19th to the UA System Trustees, Black Warrior Riverkeeper reiterated an earlier request that the Trustees carefully consider any decision to lease land or mineral rights to Shepherd Bend. We encourage citizens to relay their concerns about the mine with the UA System’s Tuscaloosa Office:. For more about the Shepherd Bend Mine, including maps, pictures, articles, and permit documents, visit .
