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Year Founded
2001
Type
Non-profit
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Last on Think
Updated on:
01/04/2009 14:59
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Mission Statement
Black Warrior Riverkeeper's mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. Founded in 2001 by David Whiteside, our full-time staff includes Nelson Brooke - Riverkeeper & Executive Director, John Kinney - Program Director, and Charles Scribner - Director of Development. We also benefit greatly from the services of in-house Prosecuting Attorney, Mark Martin, and the IT support of New Merkel Consulting Group.
David Whiteside represented Alabama as a correspondent for MTV Choose or Lose Street Team 2008, which helped win an Emmy Award for MTV that year!
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Location
712 37th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35222
United States
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Phone
(205) 458-0095
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Fax
(205) 458-0094
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Website
http://www.blackwarriorriver.org
Email
info@blackwarriorriver.org
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For the latest Riverkeeper updates: http://www.blackwarriorriver.org
http://www.myspace.com/black_warrior_riverkeeper Flaming Lips and Riverkeeper
NOVEMBER 2008 – (Fredericksburg, VA) Black Warrior Riverkeeper Wins National Award from the American Canoe Association. - On November 1 in Fredericksburg, VA, Gordon Black, a member of Black Warrior Riverkeeper's Board of Directors and a renowned instructor of canoeing and kayaking, accepted the American Canoe Association's 2008 Green Paddle Award for Waterway Conservation on behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper at the ACA Annual Banquet. The ACA Green Paddle Award is presented annually to an individual or a group that has made outstanding contributions to paddlesport by protecting America's waterways. Black Warrior Riverkeeper is honored to receive this award from such a respected national organization. For more information about ACA visit: AmericanCanoe.org. NOVEMBER 2008 – (Atlanta, GA) U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Citizen Suit Enforcement of Clean Water Act - In Black Warrior Riverkeeper v. Cherokee Mining, LLC, the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on November 13, 2008 that a Clean Water Act citizen suit is not barred by a state administrative action commenced after a citizen group gives notice of its intent to sue to abate water pollution. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals included in the ruling the following quotation from a 1985 Senate Report: “[c]itizen suits are a proven enforcement tool. They operate as Congress intended – to both spur and supplement to government enforcement actions.” Upholding Congress’ intent, this ruling certifies that Black Warrior Riverkeeper, citizen groups, and citizens throughout the southeast’s Eleventh Circuit have the right to exercise an active role in water pollution reduction. This is especially important where state agencies are not adequately enforcing the Clean Water Act, such as in Alabama. OCTOBER 2008 – (Locust Fork, VA) Black Warrior Riverkeeper has settled their case against Metro Recycling, Inc. regarding operation of a used tire landfill in Blount County, Alabama. The Honorable United States Judge L. Scott Coogler approved our 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 (SEP) in the Locust Fork watershed. This SEP will fund aquatic surveys in the Locust Fork watershed which will be used to determine future conservation goals within the watershed. The parties chose the Freshwater Land Trust, an Alabama non-profit land conservation organization, to receive Metro Recycling’s SEP payment and enable the aquatic surveys. Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Friends of the Locust Fork are pleased that the entire SEP payment will benefit the Locust Fork watershed. MAY 2008 – (Moundville, Alabama) Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Alabama Biodiesel have reached a settlement to the pollution lawsuit Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed on August 22, 2007 in United States District Court. The Honorable Judge John E. Ott has approved the settlement requiring Alabama Biodiesel to cease illegal discharges of oil and grease, obtain a pollution permit mandated by the Clean Water Act, and pay $27,500 for a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) in the Black Warrior River watershed. http://www.blackwarriorriver.org/releases/2008_PressRelease_AlabamaBiodieselSettlement_May30.pdf
FEB. 2008 (Irvington, New York) – Waterkeeper Wins Mercury Battle. - In a complete victory for public and environmental health, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today invalidated a pair of EPA rules that would have allowed coal-fired power plants to overwhelm waterways, fish and communities with harmful levels of mercury for decades to come. Power plants, the largest source of manmade mercury in the country, spew 48 tons of the dangerous neurotoxin into the air each year, while a single gram – 1/70th of a teaspoon – of mercury per year is enough to contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point that fish are unsafe to eat. EPA estimates that as many as 600,000 babies may be born in the United States annually with irreversible brain damage because pregnant mothers ate mercury-contaminated fish.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Named 2007 Conservation Organization of the year by Alabama Environmental Council & Alabama’s 2006 Watershed Organization of the year by Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance.
SEPT. 2007 - Black Warrior Riverkeeper has filed suit against Metro Tire Landfill in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges that the landfill has significant and ongoing pollution violations. Pollutants include: Benzene (a known carcinogen), Chloromethane (possible carcinogen), 1,2-Dichloroethane (probable carcinogen), Ethylbenzene, Toluene, Vinyl Chloride (known carcinogen), and Xylenes, o,m,p. Laboratory results of Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s water samples indicated that Benzene and Vinyl Chloride were also present in concentrations exceeding maximum contaminant levels for drinking water.
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