By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit that could affect anyone in north Jefferson County who drinks or uses tap water.

On behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has sued the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for permitting a coal mine that it says poses risk to Birmingham drinking water, according to a press release.

“It affects anybody who drinks Birmingham water,” said Nelson Brooke, executive director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper. North Jefferson County gets its water from Birmingham Water Works.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 22 in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, stems around a coal mine.

SELC says that ADEM violated state law by issuing a wastewater discharge permit for the Shepherd Bend Mine in Walker County without notifying the public.

The press release states that the discharge would put pollutants “into the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River, less than a quarter mile from an intake for one of Birmingham’s major sources of drinking water.”

Brooke said the site is just west of Dora and Sumiton.

“This is a case where the state and an environmental agency has permitted a coal mine directly across the river from the Mulberry drinking water intake,” said Brooke. “We don’t think that’s compatible use for the drinking supply.”

SELC and Black Warrior Riverkeeper seek “revocation of the permit and an injunction preventing any activities that purport to be authorized by the permit,” the press release stated.

A spokesman for ADEM, however, said the organization met all legal obligations regarding the Shepherd Bend Mine.

Although he could not comment specifically about the lawsuit, ADEM public relations director Jerome Hand said the agency was in full compliance with state laws when issuing the permit.

“It was in line with all of our regulations,” said Hand. He said ADEM published a public notice for 30 days, as required by law. It was published in The Birmingham News.

“We took public comments from anybody who wanted to send us a public comment,” said Hand. “We answered each comment we received. … They’re available to anybody.”

“They didn’t notify us when the permit would issue,” said Brooke. “They didn’t respond to our comments. They didn’t respond to our request for a public hearing, which is a way for concerned citizens to have their voices heard.”

A trial date has not been set.