Circuit Court orders $120,500 minimum penalty for developer’s stormwater violations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuscaloosa, AL - Friends of Hurricane Creek / Hurricane CREEKKEEPER filed multiple complaints concerning the Williamsburg Subdivision, owned by SDW, Inc., for stormwater violations that resulted in sediment and other pollutants leaving the Buttermilk Road development.

For more info on stormwater violators visit http://mudbuster.blogspot.com.

ADEM fined SDW $20,000 for over 700 days of documented violations. ADEM is required to levy a minimum of $100 per violation per day.

FoHC appealed to the Environmental Management Commission with the help of David Ludder, a Tallahassee attorney for FoHC. FoHC presented evidence to the Commission of over 2,000 days of violations. The Commission refused to modify the ADEM penalty so FoHC filed an appeal to Montgomery Circuit Court. On March 10, the Court reversed ADEM and ordered that the $20,000 penalty be increased to a minimum of $120,500.

Judge Charles Price signed the attached order yesterday while the Tuscaloosa News press was rolling this headline for the days edition "New storm drainage rules to cost city nearly $250,000."

Friends of Hurricane Creek, Hurricane CREEKKEEPER, hail this as a tremendous victory in the battle against developer produced pollution and run-off!

The price for polluting Tuscaloosa’s waterways just went up. It will no longer be cheaper to break the laws than to obey them.