It ’s sunny and in the mid-70s in Tuscaloosa County , Alabama right now . Normally , that would be prime consideration for a swim in Davis Creek or Texas Creek . But in good order now , both are running black , full of thick wastewater runoff .
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has been receiving complaints about the defilement in the water body and is currently investigating the cause of it . The Alabama Surface Mining Commission has sent environmental regulators to check it out , too . But Nelson Brooke — the riverkeeper for the Black Warrior River , which both creek flow into — has done his own investigation , and is certain he knows where the befoulment is coming from .
“ It ’s 100 % come in from Warrior Met Coal ’s number seven hugger-mugger mine , ” Brooke , who works for the local chapter of the Waterkeeper Alliance , sound out .
A drone photo shows dark pollution in Davis Creek.Photo: John L. Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeepe
Since April 1 , 1,100 worker at the Warrior Met ember mine , all member of the United Mineworkers District 20,have been on strikeover alleged unjust labor practices , demanding skillful pay , more reasonable hours , and more prison term off . That means the only the great unwashed working at the telephone number seven mine are temporary , non - union workers who the ship’s company brought in — commonly name “ scabs”—and managers .
Brooke started find out complaints from locals about the discharge on Sunday , April 25 , theday after the state ’s environmental management departmentsays it first got Good Book about it . He immediately started looking at aerial prospect of the river and its tributaries .
“ I ’ve drive a pretty skilful work cognition of all the different major polluter out there , so I was pretty quickly able backtrack it to that mine … which is the independent thing going on out there in that little area near the town of Brookwood , ” he say . Specifically , he said , it’scoming from the number seven mine ’s 14th impoundment , where actor pump all of the mining waste slurry up to the aerofoil from 1,500 feet ( 457 meters ) below the background .
Davis Creek runs black with pollution.Photo: Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper
The Department of Environmental Management said in astatement to AL.comit is “ look the laboratory psychoanalysis of the sample for the inspection report to be finalized ” and that it “ has been in middleman with Warrior Met about the firing in question and will continue to actively enquire the circumstance so as to address the exit . ”
Phil Smith , communications director for the United Mineworkers of America , of which the striking workers are members , said he “ hesitates to say ” that the ten-strike and the uptick in contamination are come to .
“ I do n’t recollect we know the point of what happened here yet completely yet , so it ’s kind of hard to point a digit and say just what happened and who ’s responsible for , ” he enounce . “ But I do know that when the normal workforce is working in that creative thinker you do n’t see these sorts of thing happening . … These affair do n’t happen so much when the UMWA manpower is in these mines . ”
Brooke said he traced the pollution back to Warrior Met Coal’s number seven underground mine.Photo: Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper
Warrior Metdescribes itselfas “ environmentally and socially given . ” The ember it mines is all export abroad to be used for brand production in Europe , South America , and Asia . Thecompany was createdby Wall Street investment business firm and hedge fund tobuy the minesnear Brookwood after their late proprietor , Walter Energy , lodge for bankruptcy in 2015 . This steal - up go on on the backs of workers , wholost their benefit , retreat parcel , and union contractwhen the novel firm take over .
Warrior Met report aloss of $ 35 million in 2020 , compared with a net income of $ 302 million in 2019 . In response to prole ’ demands for well pay and benefits , it has say that due to the doubt impersonate by the pandemic , it can not provide financial guidance for the current year . Yet in late weeks , the business firm has apply upper managementbonuses of up to $ 35,000 . And it ’s hardly the only coal party thatreported a lossduring the pandemic .
“ I think both with the how the workers have been treated and how the community has really been complain aside here with the brook , one of the problem we ’re seeing is Wall Street values being applied to rural , do work class communities , ” said Smith . “ That ’s the value of ‘ money first , ’ and ‘ consequences do n’t matter . ’ ”
Though the state has two environmental regulation office that are meant to keep the mine in check , Nelson say he does n’t have much trust in either the Department of Environmental Management or the Alabama Surface Mining Commission .
“ Oftentimes , we get narration from the regulatory agency that everything ’s under control . They ’ll say , ‘ we ’ve done our due diligence and we did n’t find any problems , ’ and then we ’ll go out and do our investigation and we ’ll find major problems , ” he articulate .
That ’s what happened in 2019 whenspilled wastewaterfrom Tyson Foods kill more than 175,000 Pisces in the Black Warrior River , and when the Hunt Oil Refineryhad a major spillin 2013 . It also happened with Walter Energy in 2011 , when the company’scoal slurrypolluted the North River and Lake Tuscaloosa in 2011 . Walter Energyassured the publicthere was nothing to vex about , andregulators saidthat though bring up level of some toxins were found , they would n’t affect wassail water .
“ But we proceed out and sample , and we found elevated jumper lead and arsenic above water quality criterion in that water . So we were able to say , the country ’s investigating is full BS , and this water is very unsafe , everybody needs to be stay away , ” say Brooke .
Brooke said that the want of oversight that allows coal mines to contaminate with impunity also allows them to treat workers unjustly . With coal seeing a continued decline in the U.S. , it also aim to the danger of what could happen without stronger government intervention to support worker and excavation land site .
“ The legislature , the regulator , the attorney general , the regulative agencies , they all seem to have economy - first , profit - first kind of learning ability , ” he said . “ And when it comes to endeavor to do something about trouble , it seems to be much easier for them to brush the business of Alabamians under the carpeting and do thing for the welfare of corporations . ”
Smith correspond that the issues are link up , state that though the on-going strike is at the top of the unification ’s mind , the pollution in the creek is n’t a second - guild issue .
“ The struggle that our members are going through there is n’t just about them and their jobs , ” he said , noting it ’s about accountability as a whole . If it wrench out Warrior Met is truly responsible for the pollution , he pronounce “ we need to ensure they do n’t experience like , and other companies do n’t feel like , they can get away with anything . ”
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