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Interview: Riverkeeper by Christoph
We talked to Alabama’s Black Warrior Riverkeepers who we got in touch with on myspace.com and whose symbol sparked our interest.
V: What is the history of the Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER?
Riverkeeper: Founded in 2001 by David Whiteside, the Mission of Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving the needs of over one million people throughout sixteen countries in the heart of Alabama. Monitoring the river and holding industry accountable for their discharged pollutants has made us an important proponent of clean water and public health throughout the watershed. Our three full-time employees include Nelson Brooke—RIVERKEEPER (patrolman and spokesman), Charles Scribner—Director of Development, and Brantley Fry—Executive Director. We also benefit greatly from the services of in-house Chief Prosecuting Attorney, Mark Martin, and Legal Program Coordinator, John Kinney. Alabama’s 2006 Watershed Organization of the Year, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER is governed by a board of directors and is a proud autonomous member of WATERKEEPER Alliance. In the past year, our staff, board, volunteer base, and membership and budget have all doubled.
V: Can you tell us a success story of the Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER? What was your greatest victory?
Riverkeeper: We tackle a wide range of pollution issues affecting the Black Warrior River basin, but at this point our most frequent battles (and victories) have been over sewage. The Black Warrior River watershed includes 16 counties and is home to over one million people. A very important source of drinking water for Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and many other cities, the Black Warrior is unfortunately plagued by sewage. There are 72 wastewater treatment plants and lagoons discharging throughout the basin. Permitted by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) with federal permits under the Clean Water Act, these facilities face little effective regulation. ADEM has an informal agreement with wastewater utilities that allows them to operate in violation of their permits so long as they claim that they are “working on improvements” for their plants or collection lines. ADEM has sporadically enforced the law, but only after a considerable amount of time has passed and much raw sewage has entered streams.
Citizen enforcement of the Clean Water Act through lawsuits does get ADEM moving, however! This helps guide our anti-pollution strategies. Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER has taken a comprehensive look at 53 of the municipal and private wastewater treatment plants and lagoons throughout the basin. Of those, 23 are in major violation of their permits, 9 have issues that we are watching, 18 are in good condition, and 3 are not yet in service. There are also 19 treatment facilities for schools. Out of the 23 Clean Water Act violators we found, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER has issued 5 Notices of Intent to Sue. We are talking with officials at the other facilities, hoping that we can get a voluntary commitment from them to clean up their mess. We have summarized violations over the past five years for 18 out of the 23 facilities, which cumulatively violated the Clean Water Act at least 24,657 times.
 © Nelson Brooke 2005
Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County has been a long-term focus for Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER. After we issued a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue Donaldson for sewage violations, the Alabama Attorney General’s office took the case from us on the 57th day. ADEM could have taken it, but they allowed Donaldson to discharge illegally into Big Branch of Valley Creek for 9 years! Over the past 5 years, the prison violated its permit 1,060 times. ADEM knew their lack of diligent prosecution entitled us to carry on, so they asked the Attorney General to step in and protect the Department of Corrections (DOC) from our suit. Designed for 900 prisoners, Donaldson holds 1,600 inmates, resulting in overloads at its wastewater treatment plant. After we intervened in the lawsuit, the DOC agreed to work with us, and contracted a private sewer operator called NOVUS Utilities to operate the treatment plant. NOVUS has spent over $400,000 on upgrades, such as building a 100,000 gallon surge basin. Donaldson has met permit limits since August 2005.
Many of those in charge of running sewage treatment facilities take sewage treatment as lightly as ADEM. Still, pathogens can live in stream bottom sediments for up to 12 months after discharge.
Sewage is a serious threat to public health and our right to fish and swim. We promise to fight the deregulation of wastewater treatment, and we will help improve facilities discharging sewage into the Black Warrior.
V: I like the Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER symbol. Who designed it?
Riverkeeper: Thank you! Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER’s very popular logo was designed by a  graphic design firm in Birmingham, Al. It pays tribute to the environmentally-friendly traditions of Native Americans, and more specifically, it refers to the fact that the Black Warrior River is named after Chief Tuscaloosa, a famous warrior for whom Tuscaloosa, AL is named. (Tuscaloosa means Black Warrior in Choctaw). However, we are in the process of improving the logo -- we plan to keep the same basic design except we are changing the Native American profile silhouette to a Southeastern Native American. It is currently depicts a Midwestern plains style for feathers, and we wanted to be geographically accurate. V: I have read the Black Warrior River has about 17 dams. In Queensland, Australia, citizens are fighting against the building of a dam on their Mary River. It is expected to lead to serious environmental problems. How have dams changed the Black Warrior River?Riverkeeper: Dams affect flow, sediment passage, oxygen, temperature, and habitat. They have severely altered the state of Alabama's Black Warrior River. A series of seventeen locks and dams were built on the river in the late 1800s. In the 1930s, work began to replace those dams with a more modern series of four locks and dams. The river is heavily used by barges for the transport of commercial commodities such as coal, steel, wood, and chemicals. These dams have created a number of lake-like reservoirs stealing the river’s free-flowing beauty. Unfortunately, the threat of dams still looms in our watershed. Recently Cullman County proposed a dam on the Duck River. Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER organized with WildLaw, Steve Masterson, and the Alabama Rivers Alliance to challenge this unnecessary dam on the Duck River. While the new reservoir would have provided drinking water, this water's quality would have become very polluted from the alarming waste created by Cullman County's state-leading number of industrial chicken factories.On November 27, 2002, The Birmingham News published a story revealing the Birmingham Water Works Board, Alabama Power, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' interest in damming the Locust Fork River, a free-flowing headwater of the Black Warrior River. A similar plan was proposed in the early 1990s, but was defeated by patriotic citizens in northern Alabama, many organized under the Friends of Locust Fork. The Locust Fork River is one of Alabama's last free-flowing rivers and is a priceless resource to the state. This major Black Warrior River headwater is one of the richest basins for aquatic diversity in the country; several, federally protected endangered species live in the Locust Fork, including the Plicate Rocksnail, Triangular Kidneyshell, and Cahaba Shiner.V: What was the worst or the most ruthless pollution you have ever experienced?Riverkeeper: Sloss Industries was repeatedly dumping illegal amounts of cyanide into Five Mile Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior. Sloss had a permit to dump a little over one pound of cyanide a day. However, they exceeded the cyanide portion of their permit for over 500 straight days and were dumping as much as 20 pounds of cyanide per day. Because the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) failed to act, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER determined that litigation was the only remedy to the cyanide discharges. RIVERKEEPER’s collaborative suit with Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation prodded ADEM into action. When Sloss settled with ADEM, they agreed to pay $675,000 in civil penalties to Alabama. They must also curb their discharges, donate 350+ acres of land on Five Mile Creek for a greenway and public park, and plant 25,000 trees along the creek.  © Nelson Brooke 2005
V: How would you describe the condition of the Black Warrior River? Including the water quality, of course.
Riverkeeper: There are many pristine tributaries flowing into the river such as our Sipsey Fork which is of national significance. This federally recognized “Wild & Scenic River” flows from Bankhead National Forest in northeast Alabama. Since its headwaters are protected by this old growth forest and its sandstone canyons, it flows clean and clear much of the year. Unfortunately we have many tributaries that have been neglected. Coal mining, quarries, logging, road building, industrial discharges, chicken and cattle waste from industrial agriculture, human sewage, and polluted stormwater from urban areas are all major issues in our watershed. As a result, these pollutants have rendered certain areas unsuitable for the survival of aquatic species and the equipment of those seeking recreational opportunities. We are here to protect the pristine areas, and to restore the impaired ones by holding polluters accountable.
V: Considering that the US law and court system is very slow, how long does it take suing against a company, like the East Walker County Sewer Authority for their 4,473 Clean Water Act violations, till the final sentence is passed?
Riverkeeper: Your observation about the speed of litigation is pretty accurate! We have had some cases stall for years because of the inertia of our courts, and our state government’s inability (and/or lack of desire) to prosecute major polluters. However, the legal system often appears to be the only way of getting anyone moving when it comes to cleaning up their mess. We have used litigation to force several positive settlements and outcomes on behalf of the river. While we try to solve problems through negotiation, polluters often do not take our position, or their crimes, seriously until they face a lawsuit.
V; What is the relationship between the government of Alabama and your NGO like?
Riverkeeper: Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER enforces environmental laws when the government does not. The Clean Water Act gives citizens the right to enforce the law if government is not doing so. We have addressed over 11,000 Clean Water Act violations in the Black Warrior River watershed through legal actions. When we come in and have to do the government’s job, it makes them look bad, so they don’t like us much! However, the government still chooses to not enforce the law, so we have to come in and protect our fellow citizens. Our state environmental agency, Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), was recently ridiculed by none other than Jon Stewart, on “The Daily Show” for being ranked last in the country.
V: It may sound like a prejudice to you but the protection of nature isn’t something, which the USA are known for in the rest of the world. Considering President Bush’s withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol and the exuberant lifestyle of US Americans, thinking for instance of their energy consumption, it does not give the impression that nature conservancy is regarded a top priority. Do you think the world has a wrong perception about the US American attitude about nature?
Riverkeeper: It is hard to comment comprehensively on such a diverse and large nation’s attitudes, but certainly we have a huge environmental problem stemming from our current White House. We are a bipartisan organization, but it is impossible to speak truthfully about the environmental situation in America, and the world, without mentioning that President Bush is America’s worst environmental President ever. Many Americans and Alabamians feel very strongly about protecting the environment, but this administration is not representing these wishes and needs. At least there are many WATERKEEPER organizations fighting for them! Waterkeepers are patriots and environmentalists at the same time – we concerned citizens who have started nonprofit organizations to protect local watersheds and resources against greedy polluters and the shortsighted politicians, like Bush, who support them. On another environmental note, it seems that global warming has become an increasingly popular and accepted topic this year. Despite the President’s efforts to distort and ignore Climate Change, Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and Laurie David’s Virtual March,www.StopGlobalWarming.org have spread the word very effectively. While Black Warrior Riverkeeper focuses the Black Warrior River, we are glad to see that more Americans are starting to take global environmental issues seriously. V: What kind of public relations are you concentrating on to raise awareness?Riverkeeper: The media in Alabama generally supports our cause of cleaner water. We have had many positive newspaper and magazine articles written about us. From our own end, we have filmed a few public service announcements and a 10-minute documentary about one of the Black Warrior River’s most polluted tributaries, Village Creek. Our seasonal newsletter and rapidly-growing email list has helped spread the word as well. We have also been using Myspace over the last year and have used it to reach out to over 5,000 people. Finally, as the full-time patrolman and spokesman for the Black Warrior River basin, Nelson Brooke, the Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER himself, often speaks at schools and civic meetings. V: Do you employ volunteers? Riverkeeper: We have over 80 volunteers that provide hundreds of hours of free services to us each year. These services range anywhere from legal assistance, to clerical work, to river cleanups. In terms of employing them, if we have a job opening, we encourage them to apply if they are qualified. V: Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER is part of the WATERKEEPER Alliance. Surely, you are exchanging information with other Waterkeepers. What are common pollution- or political problems, which the Waterkeepers are confronted with?
Riverkeeper: Exchanging information with other Waterkeepers is a major step in addressing complicated pollution issues. Chances are some other WATERKEEPER organization has worked on whatever threat might arise. WATERKEEPER Alliance also adopts national campaigns on issues that are common to many individual WATERKEEPER programs. Currently there are mercury, stormwater, and industrial agriculture campaigns. For more info about these campaigns visit the new WATERKEEPER Alliance site on Myspace (designed by David Whiteside, Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER founder).
V: I am pretty sure you have upset many people with your work, e.g. thinking of powerful companies. Have you experienced any hostile reaction so far?
Riverkeeper: For the most part, the citizens of Alabama appear to support us with great enthusiasm. We are only as strong as our membership base, and it has been expanding rapidly in recent years. We haven’t really experienced much “hostile reactions” but it happens to many Waterkeepers. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before somebody here is threatened, but this job is too important for us to give up in the face of threats. In general, the only people who are against our mission for clean water are those who are profiting from the pollution. In Alabama, unfortunately, these modern-day “robber barons” often have great political and financial clout.
V: The WATERKEEPER Alliance appears to be a well-organized NGO with a famous president. However, some NGOs are not like the WATERKEEPER Alliance and we have seen a lot of abuses with donated money recently. Do you think there should be some sort of rules and regulations or an institution with monitoring functions for NGOs?
Riverkeeper: There are already stringent rules and regulations that govern officially approved (by the IRS) non-profits called 501(c)(3) organizations. Black Warrior RIVERKEEPER has received our 501(c)(3) status and we follow the IRS’s generally accepted accounting practices. We contract with an accountant and outside bookkeeper, in addition to our own internal financial checks and balances.That said, it is true that some NGOs have found ways to break the rules. There should be solid rules because that might give potential donors more confidence in the system. But we already have full confidence that all money going to WATERKEEPER groups is helping clean water. We might not have huge salaries, but we all love our jobs and fight as hard as possible to protect our fellow citizens’ rights and resources. Anyone can donate online to support our efforts – www.BlackWarriorRiver.org
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