BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) - The Metro Birmingham NAACP has joined the opposition to a controversial coal mine planned near a local drinking water source.
Many people who live near that part of the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River believe their property values will drop and the river will fill up with sediment if the Shepherd Bend mine moves forward.
Other groups including the Birmingham Water Works Board and the Birmingham City Council have voiced concerns about the potential for mine related pollution in a major source of drinking water. The Birmingham Water Works Board Mulberry Fork intake is directly across the river from the proposed mine site.
The environmental non-profit group, Black Warrior Riverkeeper has been working with the Southern Environmental Law Center to appeal permits issued for the Shepherd Bend mine.
"We're confidently renewing our appeal of ADEM's wastewater discharge permit for the Shepherd Bend mine, but at the same time a lot of our strategy involves keeping public awareness of the fact that the University of Alabama is the major landowner and mineral rights owner at Shepherd Bend. So if they decide not to lease or sell their land and minerals to the mining company in that area then the Shepherd Bend mine will effectively not be a project that can move forward," said Scribner.
Recently the Metro Birmingham Chapter of the NAACP sent a letter to UA President Dr. Robert Witt urging him to address the concerns of the community in regards to the Shepherd Bend mine.
"We want this project to be stopped, basically because we believe that "clean" is a civil right," said Reverend Anthony Johnson, Community Relations Director for Birmingham Metro NAACP. "We are going to be meeting tomorrow to discuss our next move. As you know at NAACP we believe in direct action and so, but now we are at the stage of negotiation. We'd like to sit down to the table and we understand that Dr. Witt is empowered to make such a called meeting, you know again for those who support this initiative and those who oppose this project and we just want a good faith meeting."
Mine operators have already secured the necessary permits and mineral rights to mine some of the property, but opponents say the project won't be profitable without the land which belongs to the University of Alabama.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper is one of twenty co-signers on the NAACP letter.
"I think that such a well respected and established group getting behind it with such an eloquent letter, that we were proud to be a co-signer of, is a great development. I hope that it gets University of Alabama's attention and I hope they do the right thing," said Charles Scribner, Executive Director of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper. "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Chairman of Waterkeeper Alliance, even personally signed on to it."
On Wednesday, a University of Alabama spokesperson said there were no plans to arrange a meeting regarding the land.
"The University has not been approached about leasing the land at Shepherd Bend and has no current plans to lease or sell the land," said Bill McDaniel, Director of Broadcast Media Relations for the University of Alabama.
Reverend Johnson says the NAACP is prepared to organize rallies and to contact UA contributors to put additional pressure on the University if necessary.
