City complaint leads to enforcement action against mine

A surface mine near Harris Lake is under investigation by state authorities after Tuscaloosa city officials reported the operators for illegally discharging tainted water into an upstream tributary.

Both the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Alabama Surface Mining Commission were notified by City Hall earlier this month that the operators of Deerlick West Mine were improperly discharging water into a stream that flows into the reservoir.

“Siltation of the lake decreases capacity and water quality, and as this property is a dedicated public park it has various protections under city code,” said City Attorney Glenda Webb to the Alabama Surfacing Mining Commission.

According to documents and internal communications obtained by The Tuscaloosa News under the state’s open records laws, the Alabama Surfacing Mining Commission immediately dispatched officials to halt the operations of Deerlick West Mine after receiving the complaints on Jan. 14.

“We were unaware of this miner’s actions and I have two personnel on the way to the mine to immediately discontinue operations,” said Kathy H. Love, executive director of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission, in response to Webb’s complaint. “I will be back to you as soon as my guys get there.

“This is unacceptable.”

The Deerlick Mine West has been on the city’s radar of concern since it neared and, ultimately, completed its permitting process through ADEM and other agencies last year.

Mayor Walt Maddox and other city officials were among the only Tuscaloosa-area residents to speak in opposition of the mine during a public hearing last summer and the mayor has repeatedly voiced his worries that the mine would negatively affect Harris Lake and the recreational amenities that are planned for the area under the Elevate Tuscaloosa plan.

“I opposed the strip mine since its inception because it was clear that it would pose a direct threat to Harris Lake,” Maddox said. “When I expressed the city’s concerns at ADEM’s public hearing last July, we were told that we had nothing to worry about, although it was obvious there was a lack of oversight and accountability.

“It is truly sad that ADEM permitted this project because it jeopardizes one of Tuscaloosa’s greatest assets and sources of drinking water. ”

Zachary Wilbanks, the founder of Wilbanks Engineering & Environmental Solutions LLC and the engineer of record for Cahaba Resources LLC, told The Tuscaloosa News that the water being pumped into the Harris Lake tributary was stopped soon after the city’s complaints were received.

“Since receiving the complaint, (Cahaba Resources) haven’t tried to disagree or be uncooperative,” Wilbanks said. “They’ve been very much cordial and are trying to stay in front of this, stay in compliance and address the issue.”

Wilbanks explained that the complaints stemmed from water that was being pumped from a sediment basin that was being constructed to catch silt, runoff and other disturbances associated with the planned mining activity.

During construction of this basin, heavy rains flooded the work site. The silt- and sediment-laden water was then pumped out and into the Harris Lake tributary in order to allow the work to continue.

Wilbanks also said that, after receiving the complaint, additional protections – called best management practices, or BMPs – were installed to catch and filter out silt and sedimentation from the work site, including hay bales, straw bundles and silt fences.

“There are some additional measures that are now in place and we’re all hopeful they’ll remain in compliance moving forward,” Wilbanks said.

Efforts to reach officials with Cahaba Resources were unsuccessful, and Suzanne H. Mills, a Tuscaloosa-based attorney representing the company, did not return messages seeking a comment.

Mills did, however, respond to Webb and notified her that corrective measures were being taken by her client.

“The appropriate regulatory agencies are already investigating as you requested,” Mills said in an email to Webb on Jan. 17. “At the same time, Cahaba Resources is taking action to put additional measures in place to maintain compliance and is coordinating diligently with the regulatory agencies to address any concerns.”

In a follow-up email, Mills also provided a list of steps that Cahaba Resources was taking in the wake of the state’s enforcement actions. This included not only the installation of extra silt fencing, hay bales, straw and mulch that Wilbanks mentioned, but also a more stringent water sampling plan that will be followed.

Under this plan, water tests will be taken at least once a week and after each rain storm and the sampling results will be reported to the Surface Mining Commission and ADEM on a monthly basis or immediately if they show results that violate the current permitted limits.

Mills also said no more rain water would be pumped from the area and that the sediment basin must be complete by Jan. 29.

After arriving on site on Jan. 14, inspectors with the Alabama Surface Mining Commission took water samples of the runoff. According to Love, water samples taken close to the holding pond showed the runoff contained suspended solids – dirt, essentially – that was in violation of the mine’s permit.

But by the time this runoff reached Harris Lake and mixed in with the body of water, the samples were below the maximum limits allowed by Cahaba Resources’ discharge permit.

“While the pictures appear to show a lot of soil and water entering the lake, once it mixes with the water the runoff is diluted to a nominal level that does not present a danger to the health of the lake. Therefore, there is no remediation required,” Love said in a Jan. 15 email to Webb. “With that said however, the mine operator was given a notice of violation for failure to maintain the sediment control as needed to prevent/minimize runoff in the first place.”

Love, who said in an interview with The Tuscaloosa News on Thursday that the Surface Mining Commission’s probe into this matter has been concluded, also said the mine operator was instructed to install the corrective and preventive measures that have since been put in place.

“They have done everything we have asked them to do for corrective actions,” Love said, “and our inspectors will continue to monitor what’s going on out there.”

On Jan. 9, City Hall also collected water samples of the siltation runoff just as it entered Harris Lake. These results showed that the sediment load was at 360 mg/L, well above the 70 mg/L allowed.

But the steps taken by Cahaba Resources have, for now, appear to have satisfied the city’s concerns.

“We have observed activity by the mine to apply BMPs for erosion control. They have ceased pumping out their temporary sediment pond, which was the source of the discharge to Harris Lake,” said Russ Barton, director of Logistics and Asset Management Infrastructure and Public Services. “The mine appears to be operating more responsibly.

“We will continue our vigilance in monitoring what they are doing.”

Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.