alabama Action alert: we need your voice by july 30th
The Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Lance LeFleur, recently said in an article, “It takes more than lawsuits to protect Alabama waters.” The statement was a clear insinuation that legal action from citizens, such as Waterkeepers in Alabama, is unnecessary. Such action is necessary because that seems to be the only way to get ADEM’s attention about a serious violation of law. Lawsuits would not be necessary if ADEM did its job.
Waterkeepers Alabama could not agree more that it takes more than lawsuits to protect Alabama waters. The irony is for ADEM to do its job, it takes a lawsuit to spur action - in most cases. Waterkeeper organizations spend months of legal research, collecting water quality samples, and filing citizen complaints in an effort to get ADEM to do their job, which is “assur[ing] for all citizens of the State a safe, healthful, and productive environment.” When decisive action is not forthcoming from ADEM to support that charge, lawsuits come forth from Waterkeepers and other citizens.
Waterkeepers file a Notice of Intent to Sue (NOIS) against a party only when all other avenues to reach compliance with state and federal laws and regulations cannot be reached. This happens because the polluting entity either does not take ADEM warnings seriously or they know that the agency typically takes toothless enforcement actions, and if penalties are levied, they will be paltry. In fact, in the EPA’s last formal review of ADEM they state, “[ADEM] Enforcement actions do not consistently result in violators returning to compliance within a certain timeframe.” Waterkeepers know it takes more than lawsuits to protect our waters but in the absence of meaningful enforcement by ADEM, we are left with few other good options to stop polluters.
Alabama, the River State, has a serious sewage problem. In 2016, the most recent year that Waterkeepers compiled the data for the whole state "between 28.8 million - 42.6 million gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage were reported to have been released into our rivers, creeks, and bays. Tennessee Riverkeeper, a member of Waterkeepers Alabama, recently filed a NOIS against the Guntersville Water Board over the 1.7 million gallons of sewage that was discharged into local waterways from their sewer system.
Section 505 of the Clean Water Act grants private citizens the right to take independent enforcement actions for documented violations. Waterkeepers Alabama members are on patrol constantly, often responding to citizen complaints and taking water quality samples and testing for bacteria levels. Based on data gathered by Waterkeepers, especially during Swim Guide patrols, families are often unknowingly recreating in waterways contaminated with elevated levels of E.coli.
ADEM, the agency responsible for enforcing the permits they issue, is claiming that consent orders with specific steps and timelines are enough for the safety of our waterways and public health. It speaks volumes that ADEM chooses to sit by as hundreds of thousands of Alabamians have the potential to be swimming, boating, and fishing in sewage.
Until ADEM takes aggressive and appropriate action against polluters, Waterkeepers will continue to apply pressure on the agency through entering lawsuits, filing complaints, and requesting documents that should be publicly available. If we were not taking action, what would ADEM be doing other than simply issuing permits? They issue them and then too often appear disinterested in enforcing them.
Ten Waterkeeper Alliance members in Alabama are working to protect, restore, and promote the following waterways: Black Warrior River, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Choctawhatchee River, Chattahoochee River, Coosa River, Hurricane Creek, Little River, Mobile Bay and surrounding tributaries, Tennessee River, and Upper Coosa River. Regardless of the size of the watershed, each organization deals with ADEM’s unwillingness or inability to hold their permit holders accountable, even when violations are self-reported.
You can view more examples of ADEM’s failure in another watershed in Alabama HERE.
The public has the opportunity to comment on Director LeFleur’s job performance until July 30 at 5 PM. On behalf of the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, their Personnel Committee wants written comments to help the Committee evaluate LeFleur’s job performance. Written comments should include “ADEM Director Job Performance Evaluation” as the subject of the email or letter. Comments may be emailed to aemc@adem.alabama.gov or mailed to Alabama Environmental Management Commission, Attention: Personnel Committee, P.O. Box 301463, Montgomery, AL 36130-1463.
This piece was written by Waterkeepers Alabama. Learn more about Waterkeepers Alabama by visiting WaterkeepersAlabama.org