Black Warrior Riverkeeper Pollution Case Settled

Birmingham - Black Warrior Riverkeeper's pollution case against the Birmingham Airport Authority (BAA) was closed on February 16, 2010, signifying that the BAA has fulfilled the requirements established during settlement.   Since settling with Black Warrior Riverkeeper one year ago, the BAA has spent over $1.7 million implementing erosion controls and sediment controls at their runway extension construction site.

The BAA contracted several local businesses to participate in their progress over the past twelve months, including Birmingham Engineering & Construction Consultants, Inc., Global Construction & Engineering, Inc., J2F, Inc., and Putman Erosion Control, Inc.  J2F, Inc., an engineering firm in Birmingham, submitted quarterly site compliance evaluations.  

Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act on April 3, 2007 against the BAA, alleging that muddy water from much of the Airport's runway extension project had been inadequately contained or treated.  The construction stormwater runoff polluted Village Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River's Locust Fork.  Sedimentation from stormwater runoff is one of the leading causes of impairment in Alabama's streams and rivers.  

Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the BAA reached settlement on February 17, 2009 in United States District Court.  The Honorable Judge Inge P. Johnson approved the settlement including injunctive relief (a court order requiring steps to curtail pollution) and a Supplemental Environmental Project(SEP). The BAA's $60,000 SEP payment will fund conservation work in Jefferson County's Village Creek watershed.  Black Warrior Riverkeeper chose the Freshwater Land Trust, an Alabama non profit land conservation organization, to receive the SEP payment.

"This case highlights the value of the Clean Water Act's citizen lawsuit provisions," said Charles Scribner, Executive Director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper.  "Our Riverkeeper, Nelson Brooke, collected pollution evidence at the Airport for years while the Alabama Department of Environmental Management failed to solve the problem.  We are pleased that the Birmingham Airport Authority improved their site as a result of our action."