Black Warrior
Riverkeeper Calls Vulcan Material’s Bessemer Quarry on Pollution

Alabama is well known for its soft limestone geology, meandering underground streams, caves and sinkholes. This same limestone is a valuable construction material and Vulcan Construction Materials, LP built their Bessemer Quarry in central Alabama to mine the abundant limestone deposits. With a permit from the state the company has been quarrying limestone since 1995. But in Bessemer, neglect and absent enforcement have combined to put downstream fishing and habitat at grave risk.

Fivemile creek, which ran just 50 feet from the Bessemer Quarry, now disappears just upstream from the quarry, running into a labyrinth of underground channels. But quarrying activities at Bessemer have punctured the aquifer, creating a siphon that interrupts the natural flow and sends up to a million gallons of water a day into the quarry. This water, now heavily laden with sand, clay and other sediment is pumped back into the dry stream bed below the quarry. This interruption of the natural flow of the stream is devastating for the creek and downstream waters in the Black Warrior River basin. It is also illegal.

Vulcan has a permit allowing the discharge of water that flows into the quarry, but sampling confirms that they are discharging water with more than 15 times more sediment than the stream can handle. The company has blamed “geologic failures in the local geology.” Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke and chief prosecuting attorney Mark Martin agree that there have been failures, but geology is not the culprit here. This is a problem that could have been avoided with proper management of the quarry. Based on the company’s failure to address ongoing pollution issues, Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed a formal notice of intent to sue the quarry for 465 violations of the Clean Water Act.

Nearly two months later, and just days before the suit could be filed, the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) issued a proposed order against Vulcan. The order, if finalized, will require Vulcan to submit a plan to correct all violations; implement and maintain effective Best Management Practices; comply with applicable ADEM rules and permit requirements; perform corrective actions; and pay a civil penalty of $50,000. Black Warrior Riverkeeper questions whether the fine is large enough to remedy the harm to the environment and deter future misconduct. There is now a public comment period for the proposed order which ends November 3.