POLITICAL CORRUPTION IS A NATIONWIDE ISSUE AFFECTING ALL OF US. ALABAMA RANKS #5 AS THE MOST CORRUPT STATE. *DOJ 2007 stats
Something is very wrong in the Land of Cotton


PERTINENT ENVIRONMENTAL AND CORRUPTION ISSUES IN OTHER STATES ARE ALSO DISCUSSED


NO OTHER COMMUNITY, RICH OR POOR, URBAN OR SUBURBAN,BLACK, BROWN,RED, YELLOW OR WHITE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BECOME AN "ENVIRONMENTAL SACRIFICE ZONE."

Dr. Robert Bullard
Environmental Justice Movement Founder

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Watchdog Group Sues Coal Ash Dump Perry County, Alabama For Access to Records

Impact Perry County, a citizens group, has won one round in their legal fight to gain access to public records against the Perry County Water Authority, and now turns their sights on to the pervasively corrupt Perry County Commission (PCC) led by coal ash cad extraordinaire Albert Turner, Jr.

Perry County has been wallowing in dirty money ever since the PCC approved the mostly minority community to be a toxic waste receptacle for the remnants of the coal ash from the TVA Kingston spill. It was a controversial project from the start, rife with strong potential for nefarious activity, and despite the claims of the county that "the entire community would benefit" from the deal, the only real beneficiaries seem to have been Turner and his buddies.


And who else is benefiting? Why the state of Alabama and ADEM of course:
It's no secret: Perry County Commission has made around $1,000,000 in the months since coal ash shipments began coming to the Uniontown landfill facility. When all 3,000,000 or so tons of coal ash have been dredged from the Emory River in Tennessee and trucked to the local landfill, the county's general fund will see about $3,000,000 in extra revenue.
When confronted with concerns about the potential environmental impact of the coal ash on Perry County, commissioners have reminded citizens of this cash infusion's potential benefit to county finances. Testifying before Congress in December, Commissioner Albert Turner went as far as to say the host county fee has transformed Perry County from one of the poorest counties in Alabama to one of the wealthiest.
Alabama's Department of Environmental Management, though, hasn't been quite as vocal about a similar arrangement between that organization and landfill owners throughout the state. During Alabama's 2008 legislative session, the legislature passed a law requiring all municipal solid waste landfills to pay $1.00 to ADEM for each ton of solid waste disposed in Alabama landfills. That fee is part of the state's Recyclable Materials Management Act, which purports to fund community-based recycling programs throughout the state, along with providing operating funds to ADEM.
The state regulatory agency approved the coal ash deal in mid-2009, and began receiving payments shortly thereafter. Like Perry County Commission, ADEM has now made about $1,000,000 off of coal ash being dumped in Perry County, and stands to make at least $2,000,000 more.
Add a particularity distasteful African American lobbyist Greg Jones of the Jones Group, LLC who represented the company behind the landfill, Perry Uniontown Ventures (PUV), to the list of human misery merchants. PUV has since filed for bankruptcy to avoid lawsuits. They took the money and ran and "pulled a Bentley" on their brothers and sisters in Uniontown, with a little help from Stephen Bradley's partner, Guy McCullough and the law firm of *Maynard, Cooper & Gale who also lobbied for PUV.
*(ppg 52 of 83 Alabama Ethics Commission 2010 lobbyists records)

There was benefit alright, to lawyers, PR men, corrupt officials and the company itself, but not one thin dime has improved the quality of life for the people who have to live with this dangerous dump and are suffering because of the avarice of these toxic representatives. 

The fact that this watchdog group has to take legal action to access public records speaks volumes, but they are not the only Alabama community that deals with stone walling by public officials over public records and transparency on a regular basis.

Stars may fall on Alabama, according to the sentimental old song, but sunshine rarely does.
We wish this group great success and will be following this story closely.


Coal Ash: The Hidden Story -The Center for Public Integrity
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14 comments:

  1. Finally, forward movement on the corruption of Perry County!

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  2. Does the group have a website or Facebook page?
    I can't seem to find one.

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  3. Great news and it will be even better when someone(s) get frog marched for this. They are acting guilty as sin and obviously have something to hide.
    The backstory on all the players involved in this is fascinating!

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  4. I'm with Hannah, why is so much of this story left off in media stories on it? Facts are facts and investigative journalism is what makes for the most interesting stories--it's a pity that it has all but disappeared from view.
    Except for bloggers and advocacy groups that is.
    Good work, again, Max!

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  5. What part of getting rick off the backs of poor minorities does this story not show?
    And this is okay? I guess for Alabama the answer is yes. This is beyond appalling....

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  6. Birmingham residents know about Guy and Kristie McCullough and the controversy that surrounded their handling of the now defunct City Stages.
    Add that to being partners with the fiend Bradley (BARD) and the wild claims he made about the Uniontown coal ash dump, and I'd say you have one very unsavory character who has YET to answer some real questions about more than one endeavor he's been neck deep in.
    Just come in and fleece Alabama, it's wide open for all crooks and no one does a damn thing about it!

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  7. Why do these crooked politicians keep praising God when they are up to no good? Is it an attempt to stave off the lightning strike or something?

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  8. They should declare that area around the dump a Superfund site and get that coal ash crap out of there.
    Send some officials, including ADEM employees to jail. The lawyers involved would be good in stripes too.
    And let's see a plaintiff's lawyer step up and make the families whole.
    "I Have A Dream"

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  9. A poor community in the south gets taken advantage of by a bunch of greedy bastards. Imagine that.

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  10. The EPA needs to quit buckling to the coal industry and make some meaningful progress on this and quit talking and studying it to death!
    We already know what it is and what it can do.
    ENOUGH ALREADY!

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  11. we rather have thing like coal ash dumped in alabama the beautiful than casinos. change to alabama the dump.

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  12. You would rather have a great big dump full of poison than a casino?????
    Are you serious??

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  13. Where does the Impact Group of Perry County lawsuit stand currently (Jan 2012)?

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  14. CSH--

    We're looking into that in addition to the new filing by Atty David Ludder against ADEM for environmental injustice.

    'Will be updating with a new blog entry as the more current info comes to us.

    MAX

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