Protect Birmingham’s Drinking Water: Say No to the Shepherd Bend Mine
Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC is proposing an expansive strip coal mine, substantially located on property belonging to the University of Alabama, and directly across from the Birmingham Water Works Board’s Mulberry Fork drinking water intake. There is a high potential for hazardous mining-related pollutants to contaminate the river right across from Birmingham’s drinking water intake, as well as threaten the water quality, wildlife habitat, recreation, aesthetics and way of life for residents along the Black Warrior River. The mine is proposed to be an immense 1,773 acres with 29 discharge points. Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC is owned by members of the Drummond Coal Company family.
Please take action to protect Birmingham’s drinking water!

Timeline of Events

5/25/07: UA System Trustees’ Request For Proposals (RFP): mining at Shepherd Bend (due May 25, 2007)
5/25/07: UA mining plans upset Cordova residents (Tuscaloosa News article from May 25, 2007)
10/10/07: Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC submits a wastewater discharge permit application from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
12/13/07: Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Birmingham Water Works Board, Birmingham water users, local property owners, recreators and concerned citizens officially oppose the permit and request a public hearing.
07/21/08: Alabama Department of Environmental Management issues the wastewater discharge permit without a public hearing, providing a response to public comments or sending a notice of permit issuance to stakeholders involved in the permitting process.
09/10/08: Without a requisite Alabama Surface Mining Commission permit, the Shepherd Bend Mining LLC was granted a Nationwide Permit 21 permit by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
12/22/08: Black Warrior Riverkeeper (represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center) appeals the ADEM wastewater discharge permit. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s hearing officer will send a recommendation to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, which oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The Environmental Management Commission is charged with developing the state’s environmental policy and hearing administrative appeals of permits.
08/25/09: The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, sends letter of objection to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit 21, contesting the administrative action.
12/08/09: The Nationwide Permit 21 coverage for the Shepherd Bend Mine is suspended by the Army Corps of Engineers.
05/19/10: Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC submits a permit application to theAlabama Surface Mining Commission.
06/16/10: Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Birmingham Water Works Board, Birmingham water users, local property owners, recreators and concerned citizens from the Tuscaloosa area officially oppose the permit and request a public hearing.
07/09/10: Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC’s Nationwide Permit 21 coverage is re-issued by the Corps of Engineers.
08/19/10: The Alabama Surface Mining Commission hosts a public hearingon Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC’s application for the mine.
09/15/10: Students at the University of Alabama Birmingham protest the location of the mine, which would be partially located on University property. Student leaders collected more than 700 signatures in opposition of the mine and presented them to the University.
09/17/10: Students at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa rally in opposition of the mine. University officials locate the rally in a “free speech zone” away from central campus.
10/10/10: Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC submits a wastewater discharge permit application from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
10/19/10: The Alabama Surface Mining Commission permit is granted to Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC.
10/19/10: In a letter emailed and mailed to the University of Alabama System’s representatives, Black Warrior Riverkeeper reiterated an earlier request that the Board of Trustees carefully consider any decision to lease land or mineral rights to Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC.
11/1/10: Samford University students hold Teach-in on proposed Shepherd Bend mine
11/16/10: University of Alabama students announce that they intend to boycott some UA services if university leaders lease land for the Shepherd bend mine.
11/17/10: The Birmingham Water Works Board announces their appeal of the ASMC permit
1/26/11: Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s Staff Attorney, Eva Dillard contacts the University of Alabama System Trustees with a new letter relaying updated facts and concerns from the Birmingham Water Works Board regarding the proposed mine’s proximity to the BWWB’s drinking water intake (serving 200,000 customers).  The UA System Trustees have still not announced any decision as to whether the System will lease or sell their Shepherd Bend land and mineral rights to the mining company.
2/9/11: Black Warrior Riverkeeper writes a letter to EPA about the Shepherd Bend Mine.
2/16/11: Black Warrior Riverkeeper writes an open letter to the University of Alabama system and the media, asking UA to take a stand on the mine (“Yes or No?”).
3/15/11: The Birmingham City Council unanimously passes a Resolution“imploring the University of Alabama System to neither sell nor lease their significant land and mineral holdings to allow coal mining at Shepherd Bend.”
4/13/11: Nelson Brooke’s 4/13/2011 Radio Interview with Beth Bond of Southeast Green about the Shepherd Bend Mine controversy.
4/18/11: At the Homewood City Council Meeting, BWWB representative Darryl Jones estimated that if the mine were built, the water treatment cost per household could increase $10.00 monthly.
4/20/11: Riverkeeper speaks out against Shepherd Bend Mine at an event on the University of Alabama campus.
5/17/11 Pollution caused by coal mining near the Black Warrior River has landed the river on the annual list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ – a report issued by the conservation group American Rivers.
7/7/11- Dr. Robert E. Witt, President of the University of Alabama, shares his concerns about the Shepherd Bend Mine during a speech to the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. While not directly stating that UA would never lease land or minerals for the Shepherd Bend Mine, Dr. Witt does make surprisingly strong and encouraging statements about the feedback he has received from students, scientists, cities, organizations, and other citizens opposing the mine proposal.  He expresses what appears to be genuine interest in helping protect the river and Birmingham’s drinking water, thereby demonstrating stewardship to UA students.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper encourages citizens to thank Dr. Witt (205-348-5100, witt@pres.ua.edu) for his concerns, and to keep asking him not to lease/sell UA’s land or minerals to Shepherd Bend Mining LLC.
7/22/11- An administrative Hearing Officer gives a favorable recommendation for ADEM’s permit.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Southern Environmental Law Center plan to appeal if the Environmental Management Commission rubber-stamps that decision.
8/19/11: The Alabama Environmental Management Commission (EMC), the board which oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), rubber stamps ADEM’s Shepherd Bend Mine wastewater discharge permit.  The EMC takes 1 minute and 20 seconds to do this at their public meeting, with no discussion.
9/13/11: All 7 Alabama Waterkeeper organizations sign NAACP Metro-Birmingham Chapter’s letter opposing the Shepherd Bend Mine.
9/15/11: On behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Southern Environmental Law Center files a Notice of Appeal of the Alabama Environmental Management Commission’s 8/19/11 decision to uphold ADEM’s Shepherd Bend Mine wastewater discharge permit.  The Notice of Appeal was filed with the Circuit Court of Montgomery County.
9/21/11: Rev. Anthony Johnson of the Metro-Birmingham NAACP receives a letter from Dr. Witt, President of University of Alabama responding to Rev. Johnson’s letter opposing the Shepherd Bend Mine.  NAACP and Black Warrior Riverkeeper go on ABC and CBS News to say they are appreciative and fairly encouraged by this response, but still want definitive assurance that UA would never put Birmingham water in harm’s way.
10/5/11: The Crimson White, UA’s newspaper, publishes this engineering student’s letter: “UA Could Show Hypocrisy if System Allows Shepherd Bend Mine”
10/5/11: Escorted by the U.S. Department of State, a Delegation of Chinese researchers comes to Birmingham for a Black Warrior Riverkeeper presentation about the Shepherd Bend Mine.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper maintains pressure on the University of Alabama in a subsequent CBS interview about the Chinese visit.
10/14/11: NAACP Metro-Birmingham Chapter hosts a public forum about Shepherd Bend and a Birmingham CBS News documentary on pollution called “Deadly Deception”.  Panelists at Rev. Anthony Johnson’s NAACP forum include representatives from Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Cahaba Riverkeeper, CBS, Cordova Citizens Opposed to Strip Mining on the Warrior River, GASP, The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The University of Montevallo.
10/25/11: Protest at UA, organized by the UA Environmental Council and UA NAACP Chapter.  AL.com Tuscaloosa article and videos. CBS article and video.
10/25/11: UA student’s letter, “Put a stop to administration’s silence” published in UA campus newspaper, the Crimson White.
10/27/11: Protest at UAB, where UA, Samford, and UAB students collected over 1,000 Shepherd Bend Mine opposition signatures in one day.  Birmingham News article and video.
11/2/11: UAB student’s letter, “Going Green against the Shepherd Bend Mine” published in the UAB campus newspaper, Kaleidoscope.
11/30/11: Dr. Willy Rice, Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University and a UA alumnus, sends a letter to UA System leaders, offering over a million dollars to UA if they will stop the Shepherd Bend Mine.
12/4/11: Birmingham-Southern College’s EnAct President sends 12/5/11 letter to Dr. Witt opposing the Shepherd Bend Mine
12/5/11: The Environmental Club at the University of Montevallo sends over 300 petition signatures and a Shepherd Bend opposition letter to UA leaders.
1/10/12: Joe Olson, winner of The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s 2011 Outstanding Mathematics Student award, creates a Change.org petition imploring UA to stop the Shepherd Bend Mine.  Change.org features the petition in messages to their 240,000+ Twitter followers, congratulating UA on their National Championship in football while asking the school’s leaders to stop the mine.
1/26/12: Birmingham’s two breweries, Avondale Brewing Company and Good People Brewing Company, send letters to UA asking the University to stop the Shepherd Bend Mine.
1/30/12: After receiving briefs from all parties, hearing oral arguments, and receiving proposed orders, the Circuit Court judge signs the Proposed Order submitted by the mining company with no modification.
2/2/12: At the UA System Trustees’ meeting at UAB, protesters hand Trustees over 6,000 Change.org petition signatures opposing the Shepherd Bend Mine.
2/9/12: UAB Student Government Association passes unanimous resolution imploringUA leaders to oppose the Shepherd Bend Mine.
2/14/12: UAB film student Rebecca Marston releases her video examining the potential impact of strip mining at Shepherd Bend.
2/27/12: UA Student Government Association passes unanimous resolution imploringUA leaders to oppose the Shepherd Bend Mine.
3/2/12: On behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, the Southern Environmental Law Center files a Notice of Appeal to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.
3/23/12: David Pelfrey’s article in Birmingham’s Black & White City Paper examines Shepherd Bend and UA in great detail.  Black & White’s publisher says “A River Ruined Through It”is the most popular story in the history of the paper, which was founded in 1992.
4/5/12: The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama‘s Task Force for the Stewardship of Creation sends a Shepherd Bend Mine opposition letter to Dr. Judy Bonner (UA Interim President) and Dr. Robert Witt (UA System Chancellor).
4/12/12: The UA Community Service Center named Black Warrior Riverkeeper intern Caitlin McClusky its Volunteer of the Year award winner.  Caitlin was recognized for helping Black Warrior Riverkeeper and UA ECo oppose the Shepherd Bend Mine.

Opposition to this shortsighted and dangerous mining proposal continues… Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s appeal of Shepherd Bend Mining, LLC’s wastewater discharge permit moves forward. Please take action to protect Birmingham’s drinking water!

Release date: 4/16/2012
Contact Information: Davina Marraccini,             (404) 562-8293      , marraccini.davina@epa.gov

(ATLANTA – April 16, 2012) In response to requests from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, EPA will hold three public hearings in June to hear from stakeholders and the public about what actions to take on 36 draft individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for coal mining discharges in Kentucky. EPA filed a “specific objection” to each of these 36 permits because it was concerned that the draft permits would not protect water quality, the environment and human health consistent with the Clean Water Act (CWA).
One hearing will be held on June 5 at the Frankfurt Convention Center from 7 to 11 p.m..; and two will be held on June 7 at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center – the first from noon to 4 p.m. and the second from 7 to 11 p.m.
Since 2009, the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s Division of Water (KDOW) has authorized discharges from approximately 2,500 existing and new coal mining and processing projects under the Clean Water Act, mostly under an approved coal general permit. KDOW requires individual NPDES permits for mining or processing activities that discharge pollutants into waters that are already polluted and are not meeting water quality standards, along with new or expanding mines within five miles upstream of a drinking water intake. In the last three years, KDOW has issued 115 such individual permits.
For the 36 individual permits that are the subject of the hearings, EPA has been working with KDOW to collect and evaluate data on toxic metals, cyanide, phenols, specific conductance, and current biological health of the waters that receive discharges from the mines in an effort to work through the issues identified in the objections.
“Our intent is not to stop coal mining, but to ensure it proceeds in an environmentally acceptable way,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming. “We are holding these hearings on our permit objections to hear from those directly impacted and are hopeful that, following the hearings, the remaining 36 permits will be developed by KDOW with appropriate site-specific controls that will allow these projects to move forward while protecting human health and water quality as required by the CWA.”
Persons interested in attending a hearing are encouraged (but not required) to pre-register at least 72 hours before the hearing online or by calling             703-577-4953      . When pre-registering, persons may request to speak at one of the hearings or they may sign up to speak in person on the day of a hearing, however, space is limited. People may also contribute comments, statements, data and other information to EPA regarding the specific objections in writing at any of the hearings, and either electronically or by mail by following the instructions on the website.
After careful consideration of all oral and written comments, data and the requirements of the Clean Water Act and applicable regulations, the EPA will determine whether to reaffirm, modify the terms of or withdraw each of the objections. For permits which EPA either reaffirms the original objection or modifies the terms of the objection, KDOW must, within 30 days, submit to EPA a revised permit that meets the terms of the remaining objection, or exclusive authority to issue the permit passes to EPA for one permit term. For any permits that EPA withdraws its objection, KDOW may proceed with the permit issuance process.
Instructions to register for the hearings and submit written comments, along with copies of KDOW’s 36 draft NPDES permits, fact sheets and specific objection letters, are available online at:www.epa.gov/region4/kycoalminehearings

EPA rules target mercury pollution, toxics from power plants
By Heather Wines, for USA TODAY
The Environmental Protection Agency released far-reaching air pollution regulations Wednesday, 21 years after they were first mandated by Congress and six days after they were signed by the agency.
The rules require coal- and oil-fired power plants to lower emissions of 84 different toxic chemicals to levels no higher than those emitted by the cleanest 12% of plants. Companies have three years to achieve the standards, and EPA has made clear a fourth year and perhaps even more time are also available to them. Read more.

WEDNESDAY: EPA Administrator Jackson to Make Significant Clean Air Act Announcement

WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will join public health experts, representatives from industry, and a range of other stakeholders at the Children’s Medical Center in Washington, D.C. at 2 p.m. tomorrow to make a significant Clean Air Act announcement.

NOTE: Reporters wishing to cover this event should arrive 45 minutes early to ensure they clear security prior to the event starting.

Satellite truck parking will be available and trucks will be directed on-site.

Event details:

WHO:               EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Representatives from Industry
Public Health Experts
Additional Stakeholders

WHAT:            Clean Air Act Announcement
WHEN:             2 p.m., Wednesday, December 21, 2011

WHERE:           Children’s National Medical Center
Children’s Research Institute Atrium
111 Michigan Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20010

Mercury emissions from the 1,100 U.S. coal-fired power plants account for more than 40% of all airborne mercury emissions in the nation. This mercury falls into our rivers, lakes and oceans – polluting our water, our food, our bodies and our babies.  Just 1/70th of a teaspoon – a single gram – of mercury in a 25-acre lake can make the fish in it unsafe to eat. Every state now has mercury fish advisories, covering millions of lake acres and hundreds of thousands of miles of rivers.

Available and affordable technology can reduce mercury emissions from existing facilities by 90%, but the government doesn’t require it and the coal industry would rather poison you and your children than spend the money necessary to reduce the amount of toxic mercury in our environment. The truth is that it’s time for the coal mining and power companies to stop pointing fingers and start taking responsibility for polluting our lakes, rivers, and streams, our fish and our children.
CLICK HERE for the latest news on the long overdue Mercury and Air Toxics Standards from EPA!

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nears its Dec. 16 date with coal-fired power plants – that’s when the agency plans to finalize its mercury and air toxics rule – the lobbyists must surely be working overtime.

Environmental and public health groups say the rule, which would require significant reductions of emissions, is long overdue and should be implemented ASAP. And the industry says the rule is onerous and that it needs more time.   Read more.

Coal Train Opposition Meeting Scheduled
From the Edmonds Beacon
Friends of Sustainable Edmonds is organizing for opposition to the Cherry Point Coal Terminal.  This terminal would lead to nine coal trains per day rolling through Edmonds, each a mile-and-a-half long.
They want to say thank you to the over 120 people who made it out to the October 26 “Coal Hard Truth” forum, where Sustainable Edmonds, supported by the Power Past Coal coalition, presented the case against the plans to roll trains loaded with coal through Edmonds for export to Asia.
As promised, they have scheduled a follow-up meeting to accomplish the transition from information, to organizing for action.
There will be a meeting from 7 – 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Edmonds Library Plaza Room.  Read up on the issue here and get involved!!

CONTACT: Aimee Erickson, Citizens Coal Council Ph) 724-470-3982
John Wathen, Friends of Hurricane Creek, Alabama, Ph) 205-233-1680
Salazar plans to bury half-alive Office of Surface Mining!
(Bridgeville, PA) — Coalfield citizens throughout the United States join with Congressional leaders in rejecting the Obama Administration‟s announcement Wednesday, by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, to merge the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
“This scheme is illegal and defies common sense,” said Aimee Erickson, Executive Director of the Citizens Coal Council. While the many devils in the yet-to-be-released details of the Salazar OSM-BLM merger scheme already raise many serious and practical objections, the illegality of the proposed bureaucratic
entanglement makes the proposal a non-starter.
Alabama-based Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen adds, “Even though Secretary Salazar has already refused to fully enforce the federal law that requires OSM to protect communities, land, water and wildlife against abuses by the coal mining industry, it is shocking that he would now propose to bury this half-alive
independent regulatory agency inside the Bureau of Land Management, whose mission includes promoting coal development.”
“We are concerned that one of the motives for the Obama administration’s effort to destroy OSM’s independent regulatory status is to capture, and use for deficit reduction, the billions of dollars in coal industry fees OSM administers to clean up some of the thousands of miles of poisoned streams caused by abandoned coal mines,” stated Erickson.
“Secretary Salazar and the White House know that eliminating OSM’s independent regulatory role and
taking the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund are blatantly illegal, so they are really sending a signal to the Super Committee to use its deficit reduction authority to weaken OSM’s environmental protection and dilute BLM’s resource management effectiveness in ways that Congress itself would never allow.”
“Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is quite correct in her understanding of federal law in stating that
Congressional approval is required to make any such changes to OSM,” said Ms. Erickson. As Sen. Murkowski elaborated in her press release of Oct. 27: “OSM was specifically established as a separate entity, reporting directly to the Interior Secretary, to protect its independence as a regulatory body. I want to make sure that’s protected. The proposed merger of BLM – the entity responsible for leasing – and OSM – the regulatory body, seems to fly in the face of the arguments DOI used to support establishing the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as an independent entity to regulate offshore oil development, separate from BOEMRE, which handles offshore leasing.”
Numerous organizations, from national-level to small grassroots groups, from every region of the United States echo these concerns. “Westerners have seen the poor reclamation performance of BLM in the areas of hardrock mining, coalbed methane, oil and gas development, and uranium; we do not believe that a merger of OSM into BLM will improve OSM‟s efforts in coal reclamation. Secretary Salazar wants to merge an l872 law with a modern law, and the results will be unfortunate,” said Ellen Pfister a Montana rancher and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council Coal Task Force. While Secretary Salazar also states that the move is in the interest of making the most of limited resources,‟ the Citizens Coal Council asserts that any so-called savings claimed by the Obama Administration‟s scheme will be illusory.
Secretary Salazar expressly states in his memorandum to the Directors of the OSM and the BLM that he will seek input from the White House, the Office of Budget and Management, employees and applicable congressional committees. However, as Ms. Erickson pointed out, “it adds insult to injury that the Secretary didn‟t even consult with America‟s coalfield citizens, and we are the ones who will be affected the most.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has delayed by one month final action on regulations that will reduce pollution from some of the nation’s oldest coal-fired power plants, including two in Southwest Virginia. But further delays sought by power companies are unlikely, the EPA said.
“Federal standards on toxic pollution from power plants are decades overdue and … will save thousands of lives and prevent tens of thousands of asthma attacks and other respiratory diseases,” the agency said in a statement.
At issue are regulations that would force power plants to curb emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gases and other airborne toxins.
According to the EPA, the rules will prevent more than 17,000 untimely deaths a year caused by breathing air laced with fine particles and pollutants from the burning of coal to produce electricity. Read more.

Contact: Lisa Evans, Earthjustice (978) 548-8645
Jared Saylor, Earthjustice (202) 667-4500, ext. 5213

House Vote on Coal Ash Will Cost Lives, Jobs

Neutering EPA’s ability to regulate toxic coal ash serves only corporate polluters

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 267-144 today to pass H.R. 2273, a misguided attempt to neuter the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to set the first ever federal regulations on coal ash. Despite evidence showing groundwater contamination from arsenic, lead and other toxic metals at hundreds of sites and a recent study showing that federal coal ash regulations would create 28,000 new jobs every year, the House voted to put the interests of corporate polluters ahead of the American public.

The following statement is from Trip Van Noppen, president of Earthjustice:

“Nearly three years after the tragic spill of more than 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash in Kingston, Tennessee, it’s obvious that federally enforceable safeguards for the disposal of this toxic waste are long overdue. In fact, 267 members of the House of Representatives have taken the disturbing step of moving us even further away from this important public safety goal.

“This Congress is turning their backs on what hundreds of communities living near coal ash ponds and landfills really need. Instead, these elected officials are paying attention only to the needs of corporate polluters intent on preserving their old, dangerous way of doing business. Coal ash is a toxic menace. We cannot afford another spill like the one in Tennessee, and the cold truth is that there are dozens of sites that could become another tragedy any day. Moreover, at hundreds of other coal ash sites, drinking water is contaminated with toxic heavy metals that can cause cancer and other disease.

“A recent study by Tufts University found that federal regulations for coal ash could provide 28,000 new jobs every year. At a time when our economy is struggling and so many Americans are out of work and trying to make ends meet, it’s shameful that 267 members of the House are turning their backs on real jobs. Rather than acting to protect America’s health and environment, it’s obvious that some members of Congress are only acting to protect polluter profits.”