Tag: Birmingham Water Works Board
Water Board Asks to Oversee Housing Construction Near the Cahaba, Despite Its Fight for the Ability to Lighten Water Protection Rules
The Birmingham Water Works Board has asked the city to require developers of a property near the Cahaba River watershed to submit to board approval before beginning construction.
Arlington Properties plans to build a multi-family housing development at 4641 U.S. 280, a property that is directly adjacent to BWWB-owned Cahaba watershed lands. The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved rezoning the property from an agricultural district to a general commercial district. The BWWB is asking to have a say in the development’s permitting process.
“If this development is being considered for approval, we would request that the city require the developers to comply with Birmingham Water Works’ watershed protection policy and to submit the proposed plans and associated documentation to the BWWB prior to such approval,” April Nabors, the BWWB’s environmental engineer, told the council. “We just want to be part of the approval process.”
District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams expressed some skepticism about this request, in light of the board’s recent attempt to have conservation restrictions on its own watershed properties loosened. Read more.
Water Board Asks to Change Settlement to Lighten Requirements for Protecting Land Around Lake Purdy, Cahaba River
The Birmingham Water Works Board and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall are asking a Jefferson County court for permission to change parts of a 2001 settlement agreement requiring conservation easements to be placed on board-owned Cahaba watershed lands.
This request comes just more than a month after the Alabama Supreme Court sided with environmentalist groups in a lawsuit alleging that the board had violated the settlement agreement.
The argument centers on the Cahaba River and Lake Purdy, which is a major source of Birmingham’s drinking water. Not only does development on land close to the bodies of water risk contamination, it also drives up the cost of filtering and cleaning the water, which raises rates.
Last year, the Cahaba Riverkeeper and the Cahaba River Society sued the BWWB, claiming that in the 20 years since the settlement had been reached, the board had never placed any legal conservation easement on its properties surrounding the lake and the river, despite it being a condition of the board’s purchase of the land. The board unsuccessfully tried to get that suit thrown out of court.
Environmentalists say the board’s request to change the agreement directly conflicts with its past claims of compliance. Read more.
Supreme Court Backs Move to Protect Land Around Water Source
The Alabama Supreme Court has sided with environmentalists who say the Birmingham Water Works Board is not abiding by a court order to protect land around Lake Purdy and parts of the Cahaba River, which are the largest source of drinking water in the Birmingham area.
The Supreme Court overturned an earlier court ruling that sided with the board and sent the case back to the circuit court. Read more.
Environmental Groups Say Water Board Isn’t Effectively Protecting Drinking Water Supply
Two local environmentalist groups are suing the Birmingham Water Works Board alleging it failed to comply with a 2001 consent decree that ordered protection of undeveloped land around the Cahaba River watershed, a major source of Birmingham’s drinking water.
Cahaba Riverkeeper and the Cahaba River Society, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, have filed a complaint in Jefferson County Circuit Court hoping to compel the BWWB to place permanent protections, overseen by an independent third party, on its land holdings surrounding the Cahaba River, the Little Cahaba River and Lake Purdy.
The lawsuit cites the worry that, because the land in question is “some of the last undeveloped land in a rapidly urbanizing area,” the BWWB may cave to “intense development pressure.”
In some cases, plaintiffs say, the board already has. Read more.
Two Birmingham Water Board Leaders Reappointed, Two New Members Named
The Birmingham City Council approved four appointments to the Birmingham Water Works Board on Tuesday, with terms set to stretch through 2024. The council appoints six of the BWWB’s nine members; the other three seats are appointed by the Jefferson County Mayor’s Association, the Shelby County Commission and the Blount County Commission. Read more.
Birmingham Water Works Board Approves Rate Increase
Birmingham Water Works customers will have slightly higher monthly water bills starting in January 2020. The Birmingham Water Works Board voted 5-1 Tuesday in favor of a 3.9% rate increase. Rick Jackson, spokesman for the Water Works Board, says the increase is necessary to maintain a viable water system and replace 100-year-old water mains. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission Asks Water Board for Pledge to Help Needy Customers
A trio of Jefferson County commissioners met today with the Birmingham Water Works Board, asking the board to consider matching the county’s $1.25 million commitment to help residents who struggle with rising water and sewer rates. Read more.
Riverkeeper and BWWB Warn Another Coal Mine Threatens the Mulberry Fork
Four years ago the Black Warrior Riverkeeper roused public opinion to keep the Shepherd Bend coal mine from opening. Now the river protection advocacy organization is warning of another proposed mining operation – this one three miles upstream on the Mulberry Fork from Shepherd Bend.
What’s called the No.5 Mine is in the Walker County community of Dovertown, near the city of Cordova. Mays Mining Inc. would operate the mine at a former industrial site that was left with contaminated groundwater, according to Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke. Read more.
Three Indictments Handed Down in Investigation of Birmingham Water Works
The state grand jury investigating Birmingham Water Works Board and other aspects of Birmingham and Jefferson County government yielded three indictments Wednesday.
The attorney general and FBI officials announced the arrests of Sherry Lewis, the chairwoman of the Birmingham Water Works’ board of directors, Jerry Jones, a former vice president at Arcadis, and Terry Williams, the owner of Global Solutions International, Inc., on felony state ethics charges.
All three surrendered Wednesday at the Jefferson County Jail.
The charges stem from allegations Lewis used her office for personal gain of herself, a relative or companies with which she is associated, took part in decisions that could benefit her or a relative, and solicited or received something of value to influence her official action. Jones and Williams are accused of aiding and abetting Lewis and offering something of value to influence official action. Read more.
