The Black Warrior Riverkeeper has mailed an open letter to the University of Alabama’s new president, Guy Bailey, concerning the University’s role in the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine.
In the letter, Charles Scribner, executive director of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper, said the proposed mine would release wastewater from coal mining into Mulberry Fork, part of the Black Warrior River. Mulberry fork is located 800 feet from a water intake for 200,000 Birmingham Water Works Board customers.
In 2010, the Alabama Surface Mining Commission issued a permit for the mining of 286 acres to the Drummond-owned Shepherd Bend, LLC.
In 2008, the Alabama Department of Environment Management issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to Shepherd Bend, LLC. According to the letter, the ADEM permit would allow Shepherd Bend to “discharge water with 10 times the level of iron and 40 times the level of manganese recommended by the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
In the letter, the Black Warrior asked the UA System not to rely on ADEM and ASMC’s judgements, as the permits they issued are “not sufficiently protective of water quality.”
Mallory Flowers, a senior majoring in applied math and recruitment coordinator for the Alabama Environmental Council, said it is critical Bailey grasps the issue in a transitional period at the University.
“I think it’s really important that Dr. Bailey understands this situation as we transition leadership at UA, while keeping the whole community in mind,” Flowers said. “It’s important to show strong leadership at the beginning of any new role, and I think if he opposed the Shepherd Bend Mine, it would prove his ability to effectively lead at our campus.”
Michelle Hindman, treasurer for the UA Environmental Council, emphasized the magnitude of the possible effects of the mine.
“We strongly oppose the leasing or selling of land and/or mineral rights for strip mining at Shepherd Bend,” Hindman said. “Not only would the mine be placed in the middle of the riverside community of Cordova, a town devastated by the April 27 tornadoes, it threatens to endanger the drinking water quality of 200,000 Birmingham citizens. “
Hindman said the decision to sell or lease land or minerals for mining “would blatantly disregard the safety and wellbeing of those people.”
Scribner closed the letter by stating, “Our opposition will persist until UA announces that it will never lease or sell land or minerals for mining at Shepherd Bend.” The letter also included over 100 letters signed by concerned citizens, to accompany over 9,000 signatures on an ongoing change.org petition.
