Colombia Reports--US Court Clears Former Paramilitaries to Testify Against Drummond Coal

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ordered that the former paramilitaries alias "Bam Bam," "El tigre," "El samario," and Jesus Charris are to give testimony before representatives of the victims who claim that the multinational is responsible for the 600 murders.

Drummond allegedly ordered the assassination of rural dwellers who chose not to sell their land to make way for the company's railroad which transported carbon from the land-locked Cesar department to the Caribbean Sea.

Drummond is facing two lawsuits in the United States, one for the death of three trade unionists in 2002 and the other for the death of 18 rural dwellers in Cesar.

Read more here

Spanish speaking readers: Noticias Uno Colombia video report

Recent court filings against Drummond (C 2:09-cv-01041-RDP) indicate the legal team representing the company is being less than cooperative: exceeding production deadlines by months, pushing for a faster trial without the plaintiff's attorneys having all the needed evidence in hand, and blaming the other side for their own by design difficulties.

Depositions of the paramilitary witnesses against Drummond were set to proceed in September before the Colombian officials delayed. The next tentatively scheduled deposition dates, that must occur in Colombia, are in November 2011. Time is of the essence according to one of the plaintiff's lawyers in this sharply worded passage from the court records:

"It is simply not an option to wait a year or more for the letters rogatory process to advance when our key witnesses are being threatened, attacked and offered bribes to, in Duarte's (aka "Bam Bam") words, "Keep quiet about Drummond."

--Libardo Duarte was attacked in prison shortly after he made public statements to a television reporter about Drummond's relationship to the Colombian paramilitary unit AUC.

--"El tigre" has hidden his family away in Colombia after receiving repeated threats from would-be sympathizers of the AUC (and possibly Drummond) that they would "kill them all" if he testified against Drummond.

Details from the witnesses in the court documents describe events so evil and cold-blooded, we can't begin to fully describe it in detail at this time, but you can read it for yourself, and then decide what conclusions you may arrive to after viewing the recent activity in this case.

In our opinions, any further delay, particularly if it is a purposeful maneuver, to impede obtaining crucial testimony of these witnesses, who have first-hand knowledge about what really happened in Colombia, is a tactic of ominous intentions.

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Birmingham NAACP Chapter Enters Shepherd's Bend Coal Mine Controversy

NAACPShepherdBendMineLettertoUA

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EMC Hearing Officer's Report on Sheperd's Bend Coal Mine Allowing NPDES Permit Despite Legal Challenge From BWRK and Others

The following document is the record from the hearing on July 20, 2011 regarding the Shepherd's Bend Mine Permit. Black Warrior Riverkeeper issued a subsequent press release in response to the decision on July 22, 2011.

There is a lot to be troubled about concerning the decision of the EMC Hearing Officer, James F. Hampton, who's been a judge, a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alabama and a hearing officer in the BARD Motion to Intervene regarding SWMA. Mr. Hampton has quite a long pedigree as a state inclined legal eagle and his conclusion about this controversial mine permit is not unexpected, but it is disappointing.

Page 7 Item 10 is also disappointing and allows a lot of wiggle room for what ADEM may or may not do if issuing this permit becomes problematic. The chances are high, if the history of mine discharge in Alabama is any indicator, that there will be problems and plenty of them:

"Permit does not contain limitations on chlorides, sulfide, total dissolved solids or aluminum, which are commonly associated with acid mine drainage. Under this permit, ADEM may modify the terms of the permit, if, in the future, it is shown to ADEM's satisfaction that the permit is not protective of water quality."

EMC Docket No 09-04-2011 07 20 Report of Hearing Officer

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Second Permit Filed for Coal Mine Near Mulberry Fork--Cordova, Alabama

The Mayor who feels no shame in the wreckage of the 'church of secrets'

Reed Minerals, Inc. has filed a permit with the Alabama Surface Mining Commission dated July 5, 2011 for a second mine to be located near the contested Sheperd's Bend Mine along the eighth most threatened river in the US, the Black Warrior River. The land for the Reed Mine belongs to the Cordova Industrial Board and Reed claims it will "bring twenty jobs and have a payroll of $1.5 million."

Read more here

In an article we wrote on June 1, 2011 entitled "World Class Jack" a reference to Cordova Mayor Jack Scott, we surmised that his refusal to allow FEMA trailers for victims of the April 27th tornado devastation had everything to do with coal. Mayor Scott had to have another reason for his stubbornness that garnered world wide attention and heaped huge embarrassment on him and the city leaders of Cordova.

Scott has heard all the complaints, and he isn't apologizing. He said he doesn't want run-down mobile homes parked all over town years from now.

"I don't feel guilty," he said. "I can look anyone in the eye."

And whatever that reason was it had to be a good one, in his mind at least, but he did very little eye to eye looking at anyone and refused repeated requests for interviews by national media outlets. 

We are not pleased to report we were correct in our suspicions of why Jack Scott was acting like a typical 'Big Mule' about the whole thing--payday was coming for him.

The Cordova Industrial Board (CIB) owns the land the Reed mine will be sited on and they'll make a bundle off the mineral rights. Earlier this year, the CIB acquired a 47 acre tract of land that will allow the transport of materials by river and rail, a site well-suited for coal transport and it's no surprise coal connoisseur Alabama Power approves:

The property is valued at $350,000. It was obtained at no cost by the Cordova Water and Gas Board through negotiations in exchange for services rendered in the past to Warrior River Steel, the land’s previous owner.
The Cordova Industrial Development Board will be responsible for marketing it.
Jack Drummond, chairman of both the Water and Gas Board and CIDB, said city officials have been trying to obtain the site for approximately two years.
Drummond said the area was called prime property during a meeting with Alabama Power representatives last year. Mayor Jack Scott added that the city has the option of buying some adjoining acres, which would bring the site’s total to 150.“It gives us the potential to bring jobs into the city. We need jobs in Walker County and Alabama,” he said. 

Walker County owes its soul to coal and to the Drummond family. In a 2009 Walker County Annual Report, it's clear who wants a piece of Walker County's 'black gold' from the generous contributions rolling into the county coffers. 

Mayor Scott isn't going to be left in the coal dust he had to endure when he worked the mines, he's moving up and on his way to easy money street with the Reed Minerals deal.

Scott claimed that jobs and having young people move into the area were part of his reasoning for disallowing Cordovians access to FEMA trailers within the city limits. He called FEMA trailers an "eyesore" and an impediment to a "young, professional class" of potential residents wanting to move Cordova and "put down roots" translating to new folks will mean jobs coming closely behind.

The mine will bring twenty jobs. Hardly an employment boom by any logical measure.

Mines aren't normally a draw for "young professionals" to pour into an area. Who wants to raise a family in an area with a loud, filthy and destructive coal mine as their next door neighbor? Not many we can think of would see that as idyllic portrait of family living.

But in the world of Jack Scott, a former coal miner himself, it's a winner. 

All the way to the bank.
*photocredit: Gawker.com 
Facebook page--"Cordova-The Truth"
*Update--Public Meeting Notice 7/12/2011 on Reed Mine posted on Cordova-TheTruth 

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"The Last Mountain"--Big Coal Destruction Continues Blasting Through Appalachia and the Truth

" Corporations do not want democracy they want profits"--Robert Kennedy, Jr.

"The Last Mountain" is a film by Bill Haney heralded as a "fight for our future." He's right about that and we're hoping some of our environmental groups in Alabama bring this film to our state for a community viewing.

There is one in Alabama that might not be interested in sponsoring any film that casts the light of truth on coal since they seem to have sold out to the persuasions of the men in black.

We have been sorely disappointed by the stance of this state conservation group and their support of the coal ash bill recently passing in the state legislature, and we do not agree with their statement that it was "good legislation and a positive first step." 

First steps in Alabama are generally the last and only step. If the EPA decides to classify coal ash as hazardous, the backers of the bill will fight any changes to this already bad legislation with everything they can muster. They will probably succeed, or at the very least, delay change for so long the damage will be done and irreversible.

Most of our environmental groups know this is standard operating procedure in the always on the side of big business legislature and a 'green group' taking sides with the benefactors of the bill is both mind-boggling and inexcusable.

Taking a deeper look into the sponsors behind the coal ash bill, Alabama Power Company (APCO) and Drummond Coal, and considering their controversial histories, raises more questions than answers about the possible motives of any so-called conservation group's seal of approval.

This was an opportunity to stand against coal ash in landfills across Alabama that was not taken. In our opinions, this group loses credibility by choosing to side with big coal and against the protection of any other Alabama community becoming another Perry County. We're not surprised really because Alabama's appetite for coal is so deep, dark and powerful it's able to bend almost any opposition to its will and will stop at nothing to further its agenda.

Like a heat seeking missile locked onto its target, coal interests identify opposition they perceive as shapers of public opinion and plant their ideals in the group like an insidious weed. Dependence on state funds may be acting as the water that keeps the weed alive and any attempt to pull it out results in the threat of decreasing the organizations funds.

But it's important to pick a side, stand for it and stay off the fence.

Political muscling by the coal industry and its affiliates goes on everywhere in the country.  Even our schoolchildren and education system are not immune from the proliferation of the industry's message--coal is good for jobs and America. Coal is good for you too children!

When big coal paid Scholastic to carry industry propaganda to fourth graders in the US a firestorm of controversy quickly ensued among environmental groups:

Scholastic’s InSchool Marketing division, which produced the coal curriculum in partnership with the coal foundation, often works with groups like the American Society of Hematology, the Federal Trade Commission and the Census Bureau to create curriculum materials.

The division’s programs are “designed to promote client objectives and meet the needs of target teachers, students, and parents” and “make a difference by influencing attitudes and behaviors,” according to the company Web site.

“Promoting ‘client objectives’ to a captive student audience isn’t education,” Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said in a statement. “It’s predatory marketing. By selling its privileged access to children to the coal industry, Scholastic is commercializing classrooms and undermining education.” 

Immense pressure caused Scholastic to remove "The United States of Energy" from their website this past May, but not before "the worst kind of corporate brainwashing" developed by the American Coal Foundation had already been distributed to 66,000 fourth grade teachers.

Nothing compares to a captive audience when your aim is to influence and mold the next generation's mindset about fossil fuels and big coal is always long on propaganda and profits and far short on truths.

It's no different in Dixie than it is anywhere else in the country. The message is always the same--look at all the civic good we do, jobs we provide and by the way, have you viewed our latest slick ad campaign? 

The next time you see one of APCO's commercials with fields of flowers, butterflies fluttering about and birds soaring through blue skies with the message of "We're Always On" think a little deeper about what "Always On" really means.

*Robert F. Kennedy Jr. commentary on Blair Mountain

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Deconstructing 'Road Man' Hubbard

Representative Mike Hubbard-R receives praise from USS Steel's Paul Vercher for his voice of support in the $90 million a mile Northern Beltline project. Hubbard has been a harsh critic of federal handouts, so why is he talking out of both sides of his pothole now?  

"The people of this great country – and especially here in Alabama - know that the greatest success is when you accomplish it on your own – not with a handout. If that is not enough for the American people to stomach, there are rumblings in Washington of a possible additional round of economic stimulus. The spending is reeling out of control. It’s like eating potato chips – "you can’t have just one." How in their right (or left) minds do these Democrats in Washington think we are going to pay for all of this?" Representative Mike Hubbard-R April 18, 2009

A letter to the editor in the May 29th edition of the Birmingham News "applauds state representative Mike Hubbard's support" of the boondoggle of an idea known as the Northern Beltline. With the financial cost nearing $5 billion for a 52 mile road as America faces a record deficit, wouldn't it make more sense to just say no to that pricey bag of chips?

Senator Shelby, Representative Bachus and Alabama House of Representatives Speaker Mike Hubbard seem unable to resist dipping their salty hands into the federal bag while saying "We must rein in out of control federal spending!"
 
Why are our state republicans so quick to attack federal handouts when it yields political points, but sorely lacking in the same convictions when it involves one of their own federally funded pet projects? Look no further than the large campaign contributors such as Drummond and USS Steel. Both of these private corporations are large landholders with thousands of acres in the Northern Beltline route.

They'll make millions from the deal and they'll be generous around election time. 
 
The history of the NB has been controversial from the start. It falls under the "cost to complete system" that ensures the federal stream of money keeps flowing for years, and states keep it moving by "building these roads as expensively as possible."
 
But here's another aspect to federal transportation dollars allotment--earmarks for pet projects often have a reduction effect on the calculated amounts states receive. Lawmakers cannot resist loading up transportation bills with all kinds of pork and when they do, less money is handed out by the government. USA Today wrote about this in a special report from January 2011 entitled 'Earmarks' to Nowhere: States losing billions:

The federal government treats an unspent earmark like an undated check that could be cashed at any time. It affects the federal budget only if it's cashed. Nevertheless, because lawmakers inserted some of the earmarks into particular sections of transportation bills, many of the orphan earmarks also count against a state's share of federal highway funds and have taken billions of dollars away from state transportation departments across the nation
During the past 20 years, orphan earmarks reduced the amount of money that states would have received in federal highway funding by about $7.5 billion, USA TODAY found. That's $7.5 billion that states could have used to replace obsolete bridges, repair aging roads and bring jobs to rural areas.

Another point that’s important to note in the story is that some states think a better use of the federal money would be to take care of what they already have such as "crumbling bridges and roads to make highways safer." They ‘get it’ and realize maintaining their existing infrastructure system is just as important, if not more so, than adding new roads to an aged system in disrepair.
 
In typical Alabama fashion, good sense always veers off the road and straight into the tree of political rotten apples every time--throw the stink of blame at federal government and not at our own politicians culpability in this mess who load up transportation bills with their own goodies.
 
In an article from March 2011, Billy Norrell, the executive director of the Alabama Road Builders Association (ARBA), blames the federal government  for "kicking the can down the road" in the lack of federal highway dollars, selectively leaving out the fact that earmarks in transportation bills might be the bigger culprit.
 
Mr. Norrell seems to be reading from the same playbook of altered facts to support my side of it that Mr. Hubbard is so fond of--never question a republican when the government or a democrat is nearby to hurl under the bus.
 
Alabama, by its own admission, does not have a reputation of good infrastructure-- its roads and highways have been described as "in a desperate state of disrepair that is stunting economic growth." In 2010, Alabama's interstates proved to be deadly for a South Carolina woman, who was killed by a chunk of flying concrete from a pothole in a badly deteriorated section of I-20 near the Georgia line.
 
The state quickly settled with the family because of a "serious risk" of losing the case, and then turned right around and caved into the road lobbyists demands and limited the time of liability if the same thing ever happens again. Alabama HB 9 was written to allow near total immunity from accountability in court for companies entrusted with public tax dollars to build our highways in Alabama. 

The bill was introduced and quickly signed into law in one day according to records from OpenBama.org. 
 
That's moving at lightning fast speed no matter who you ask. Rarely does any bill move through the mire in Montgomery that quickly without the strength of huge political muscle behind it (ARBA) and we find it interesting that not one citizen, who might be hurt or killed on Alabama's highways, was allowed a voice in the process.
 
All of this seems to point to an inability by the "new day" republicans to adhere to truth in their campaigning, and the catch phrase of "We will work for you citizens of Alabama" wasn't worth the hot air it took to speak it. These political mules are not really motivated to rein in out of control federal spending if it costs them potential hefty campaign donors. 

This kind of behavior gives additional credence to the increasing criticism of who they are really handshaking with--their corporate campaign contributors.
 
No wonder Mr. Hubbard came up with the inane suggestion of locking down the statehouse to the public earlier this year, citing security concerns in the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting--if he keeps going like this he can expect to answer some questions from angry constituents. 

Restricting access of the people's house quickly blew up in Hubbard's face, and he was forced to abandon the idea and fall back on the "new day" chant of "greater accountability." That didn’t go so well either. Alabama Democratic Chairman Mark Kennedy summed it up brilliantly:

“After 136 years of open door policies under Democratic leadership, a new day of Republican control has dawned in the Alabama Legislature, but the sun isn't shining," he said.

That "new day" mantra is more of a dictatorial agreement than handshake: 'You elected me so I have a mandate to do whatever the hell I want to.' Overstepping has become the latest line dance on Goat Hill and everybody hoofs it to the republicans call.

Representative Hubbard makes a good partial point in his opening statement of the ability to pay for federal projects, but he has it purposefully upside down because his argument is designed to deride the federal government in a specific area and throw red meat to the faithful. Federal spending is bad when it's for social programs and the average Joe, but encouraged and justified when it benefits corporate interests. And certain politicians.
 
We'd like to know how Mr. Hubbard justifies burdening this state, flailing in the throes of a serious economic crunch itself, to pay for its share of the Northern Beltline with possibly 32 long years worth of appropriations? That's not just fuzzy math, that's a hulking wooly beast of financial foolishness.
 
We would also like to ask him why the state chose to hurry up a bill designed to shield private road builders from future liability resulting from shoddy work, rather than do what would be in the best interest of Alabama as a whole: use the federal highway dollars to make our existing roads better and safer before we embark on building new ones.
 
This party of the people and government accountability is looking pretty shoddy from our catbird seat and the sign we see in the distance on the road to truth in Montgomery reads "Caution: Potholes Ahead-- Four Year Deconstruction Zone."

*Note--HB9 changed to a different form with HB132 including more detail and specificity for absolving road-builder liability and did pass the legislature during the 2011 session.

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WikiLeaks Latest Info Drop--Alabama's Drummond Coal Co.

From L-R: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Drummond Co. President Gary Neil Drummond, Former Chief of Drummond's Colombian Operations Augusto Jimenez

The Colombian newspaper El Spectador.com reports on Embassy cables leaked to the paper March 16, 2011 that details murder and politics involved with Drummond's Colombian coal operations.

The story is widely circulating in the European press, but we haven't seen much in the US papers on it yet.

ColumbiaReports.com:

Over the course of four years U.S. Embassy officials sent 15 diplomatic cables to Washington which expressed concern over the company's labor disputes, lax environmental practices and apparent links with paramilitary death squads.

A year ago, a Federal Court in Alabama, U.S., where the mining company is based, began a civil case against Drummond for its alleged paramilitary links. The case is still underway.

The Florida-based law firm of Conrad & Scherer LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of 252 plaintiffs who are relatives of the 67 victims, including 63 men and four women. Their names are withheld from publication to prevent reprisals against them, said attorney Terry Collingsworth. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Western Division by Collingsworth, Conrad & Scherer founding partner William R. Scherer and Garve W. Ivey, Jr. of the Jasper, Alabama-based, Ivey Law Firm.

"The 60-page complaint outlines allegation after allegation of brutality, describing how hundreds of men, women and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work, and often murdered by AUC paramilitaries acting on behalf of Drummond," said attorney Collingsworth. "These are innocent people being killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."

Victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia accuse Drummond of having paid paramilitary organization the AUC between 1999 and 2005, during which time 116 civilians were murdered, allegedly by the right-wing militia, in the region where the coal company operates.

The civil case also seeks compensation for the relatives of several people who were murdered, which they claim was for refusing to sell their land to to make way for the company's railroad.

Wikileaks cables:

Cable one, created October 16, 2009 Unclassified, released by WikiLeaks March 16, 2011

A US diplomatic visit to the Port of Santa Marta on February 18 and 19 in 2009, detailed a stop at Drummond's coal shipping port. The diplomat that visits expresses no concern then over the possibility that Drummond is cooperating with paramilitary forces, even though a case has been in the news for the past few years. Instead, port expansion and increased production that would lead to the addition of rail line from Drummond's mine to the port is discussed. 

Cable two, created March 3, 2009, Unclassified, released by WikiLeaks March 16, 2011

11. (SBU) Drummond Vice President Gary Norman highlighted Drummond's
environmental and coal-field restoration programs and discussed
Drummond operations and plans, during a luncheon and tour of the
facility.  Since 1996, Drummond has invested USD 1 billion and
increased production from 8 million tons to 22 million tons in 2008,
expecting production to reach 25 million tons in 2009.
15. (U) Colombia is already the world's fifth largest coal exporter, exporting a total of 67.2 million tons in 2008.  Alabama-based Drummond sources all of its non-U.S. coal in Colombia, and accounts for one-third of Colombian coal exports.  In large part due to
Drummond's expansion plans, Colombia could become the third largest
exporter by 2012.
POSITIVE PRESS COVERAGE AND RESULTS

Cable three, created May 26, 2006 Confidential, released by WikiLeaks March 16, 2011

"Although XXXXXXXXXXXX said Drummond was not yet "deeply concerned"

over the strike, the company, its contractors, and the national economy

are facing significant financial losses. He doubted that the company

would be able to make up for lost production as the company was already

operating at 100 percent capacity, and estimated that the company is suffering

daily coal production losses of approximately 70,000 tons, with lost revenue

to be about 3.5 million USD daily. According to the company, its domestic

and international suppliers are losing approximately 2.8 million USD daily

and the GOC is suffering over 250,000 USD daily losses in sales, income, 

and import tax revenue.”

It appears that Drummond may have been seeking the diplomat's help for the bad publicity stemming from the murders of the three union leaders and the company was upset with the US press coverage of the case.

Drummond has successfully defended itself twice, but new evidence has surfaced, and a key witness who was imprisoned during the last trial was released and will testify in the case. In addition, the US Court of Appeals 11th Circuit has allowed the survivors of the three union leaders to proceed with the wrongful death lawsuit in the US.

Justice for Colombia has a number of stories on Drummond.

In another legal action involving Big Coal, federal prosecutors want to block Massey Coal shareholders from reviewing documents gathered during civil and criminal investigations on the Upper Big Branch (UBB) disaster. The feds claim it would hamper their efforts to prosecute Hughie Stover, who's accused of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice for ordering thousands of pages of security documents on UBB to be destroyed.

The business of Big Coal is black for reasons besides the obvious-- where there's coal, money and great power, strange and sordid things cling to it like a bad shadow or coal ash, whichever you prefer.


**WikiLeaks cable 1 & 3 verbiage appears to be some of Kevin Gosztola's writing. It was sent to us, unsourced and we want to make certain to credit sources that it appears to be from.

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US Court Revives Lawsuit Against Drummond Company in Colombia Coal Killings

Illustration credit and previous story: Birmingham Free Press

 US Court Revives Lawsuit Against Drummond Coal in Colombia Coal Killings - KansasCity.com

From the story--A lawsuit claiming an Alabama coal company executive paid paramilitary forces to kill three Colombian union leaders was revived Thursday when an appeals court ruled the victims' children could sue in the U.S.

The mine operator, Drummond Company Inc., was cleared of any wrongdoing by jurors in Birmingham during a 2007 trial in a similar lawsuit brought by the union and the victims' widows.

The new complaint claims a witness who was previously in jail in Colombia can now testify that he saw a Drummond executive give a briefcase full of cash to an illegal right-wing militia to have two of the union heads killed.

Read more here

Here's the back story on what happened for those who are not familiar with the case from Sue Sturgis of Facing South

EleventhCircuitCourtDrummondReversal2011

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Updates on Sheperd's Bend Coal Mine--Black Warrior Riverkeeper

Today, our Staff Attorney, Eva Dillard sent the UA System Trustees a letter reiterating and updating our opposition to the Shepherd Bend Mine proposal.  The letter relays new information the Birmingham Water Works Board recently supplied about coal mining’s threats to tap water quality from their Mulberry Fork water intake facility, which serves 200,000 Birmingham-area customers.

We ask that the UA System not lease or sell land or mineral rights to Shepherd Bend LLC, the company proposing to mine directly across the river from this major drinking water intake.  Without the UA System's significant land and mineral rights at Shepherd Bend, it may not be cost-effective for Shepherd Bend LLC to start mining.  We hope citizens will continue to call the UA System's Tuscaloosa office to voice their opposition to the project: 205-348-5861. 

Represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, we continue our appeal of the flawed wastewater discharge permit that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management granted to Shepherd Bend LLC.  The Birmingham Water Works Board continues its own appeal of the shortsighted mining permit that the Alabama Surface Mining Commission granted to Shepherd Bend.   We will keep you posted as those appeals progress through the legal system. 

For more information about the Shepherd Bend Mine proposal, including maps, statistics, pictures, permit documents, news about ongoing student and community protests, recent articles, and today’s letter to the UA System, visit: http://blackwarriorriver.org/news/help-protect-birmingham-s-drinking-water.html

BWRKLetterUASystemTrustees

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Environmental Groups Take Rosa Coal Mine Fight to Court of Appeals--SELC

 Press Release January 20, 2011

Contact:

Gil Rogers, Senior Attorney, 404-521-9900

Cat McCue, Senior Communications Manager, 434-977-4090 (email)

Representing:

Black Warrior Riverkeeper - Nelson Brooke, 205-458-0095

Friends of the Locust Fork River - Sam Howell, 205-706-4376

Montgomery, AL –

Two Alabama river groups are appealing an administrative law judge's approval of a permit for a massive strip, auger and underground coal mine in Blount County.  The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Friends of Locust Fork River, filed the necessary papers this week with the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals; only a few coal mine permits have ever been appealed to this level in Alabama.

The groups say the water pollution control permit for the Rosa Mine issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in October 2009 violates federal and state laws on multiple counts, and would fail utterly to protect water quality. The permit issued to MCoal is for a 3,255-acre coal mine that would allow more than 60 pollution discharge points into numerous feeder streams of the Locust Fork, a tributary of the Black Warrior River that is already on ADEM's list of the most polluted streams in the state.

"The permit that ADEM issued for this huge industrial operation is woefully deficient - there are virtually no meaningful protections for the Locust Fork," said SELC senior attorney Gil Rogers. "We are committed to protecting these resources and the communities that depend on them, and are not giving up the fight."

The groups first appealed the permit in late 2009 after a hearing before the Environmental Management Commission last year, which ruled that the coal mine permit would not harm the Locust Fork. The Montgomery County Circuit Court affirmed that ruling in December.

The groups say ADEM violated federal and state laws in several ways when it issued a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit for the strip mine. For example, the agency failed to conduct a site-specific environmental analysis and instead issued a "rubber-stamp" permit it gives other coal mines. The Rosa Mine permit is virtually identical to the one ADEM issued for the proposed Shepherd Bend Mine in Walker County, which is roughly half the size. (SELC and  Black Warrior Riverkeeper are also challenging that permit; a hearing is scheduled in late February.)  In addition, the agency:

• Failed to require a pollution abatement and prevention plan from the company;
• Allowed pollution to be discharged to an already impaired stream;
• Granted a blanket exemption for all pollution limits when it rains; and 
• Failed to require limits on chlorides, aluminum and other contaminants that are common problems with coal mine discharges.

 "The Locust Fork near the Rosa Mine is an absolutely beautiful stretch of river where thousands of people from across the country go each year to enjoy its scenery, fishing, paddling opportunities, swimming, hiking, wildlife watching, photography, and more," said Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper.  "This permit should not have been issued and we will continue to advocate its revocation."  

"Heaven forbid there should ever be a major pollution event on the Locust Fork River, but, as we know from the TVA coal ash spill and the BP oil spill, catastrophes do occur," said Sam Howell, president of the Friends of the Locust Fork River. "That is why our groups are taking these extraordinary steps to ensure that ADEM fully and rigorously evaluates the environmental impacts of this proposed coal mine so close to so many communities."

More info: Coal mining--A Threat to Alabama Waters

****************************
The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional conservation organization using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC's team of 40 legal experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.

Web:  www.SouthernEnvironment.org
Facebook:  http://www.fanofselc.org
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/selc_org

**More information-- Rosamine.org

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Congratulations Governor "Mule" Bentley--One Day On The Job And You're Already On Salon.com War Room

Salon.com War Room

*Updated Friday Jan. 21

Hoof and Mouth Disease Makes an Appearance During Alabama Governor's Inauguration Festivities

We're not at all surprised by this. "Dr. Dr." Bentley is a dull tack in the sophistication and smarts department anyway, but to scandalize himself and further solidify the impression of Alabama as "backwoods and backwards" during his inauguration, on MLK Day and in Martin Luther's first church to boot, is taking stupidity to new heights.

And this is not the first time he has stuffed his hooves in his mouth. Left in Alabama has gathered some great examples of Bentley's inability to understand a lot of things everyday people deal with. He's gotten to far above his raising to remember what it's like to be one of the many, and not one of the few, who are privileged.

Communications director Rebekkah Mason Caldwell and whoever his speech writers are don't seem well suited to the job of helping a governor portray himself as 21st century. But it was Bentley's "private remarks" when he thought he was a "private citizen" that have the whole country in an uproar. With Alabama "deeply involved" (corporate welfare) in economic development deals with foreign entities,  he may have stepped in it more than he realizes.

We should all chip in and buy Ms. Mason a heavy duty shovel to follow the governor around with, because she is going to be one busy gal. Or maybe the "simple man" Bentley can spare a few dollars of the $1.4 million dollars he collected from the Big Mule crowd and loan her a few bucks.

Like a scolded mule who got a whuppin' from refusing to pull the wagon, he's acting contrite now, but only because he needs to be. He showed his true colors with his insensitive, fundamentalist and holier-than-thou remarks the first time around, and is just another stoic Southern Baptist who thinks he is entitled to judge others through his own social parameters. They frequently hide behind religion as an excuse for bad behavior and bad company and think all is forgiven because they sit in the pews every Sunday.

In the South we call these types Sunday Christians--religion is more of a tool to judge than to live by. Be seen on Sunday and act any way you want to the rest of the week. You're forgiven because your glossy pants are on the bench every Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings.


Kind of like the Balch & Bingham lawyer who reps the notorious Drummond Coal Co. against the Walker County, Alabama family who is suing the coal giant for subsidence damage to their land from longwall mining in the area. That lawyer is a Methodist Sunday School leader at the high and mighty Bluff Park UMC. All inclusive brotherly love doesn't seem high on his list either, but corporate love, well, that might be something to ponder.

Marcus Chatterton has had the privilege of leading a Sunday School class at Bluff Park United Methodist Church since 2004, and he serves on the church’s board of steward
Subsidence Litigation – Along with Chuck Burkhart, David Burkholder, and Houston Smith, Marcus is defending several large corporations against claims of property damage and diminution allegedly caused by subsidence from underground coal mining in Walker County, Alabama.  Many of these cases have already been disposed of by dismissal or summary judgment in favor of the corporations, and the litigation team is aggressively defending the remaining claims.

The point is that we have abundant low hanging fruit on the tree of religious hypocrisy growing in Alabama, and the new governor's remarks are illustrative of what continues to hold Alabama back--religious fundamentalism and bigotry by self-proclaimed anointed ones who are full of the spirits of prejudice and avarice, not the Holy Ghost.
*(post originally published @ 2:37 pm)

Video links:

Newsy TV

Rachel Maddow Show

*Update--Doc's Political Parlor has printed a copy of an email from a group who were planning to visit Alabama on a golf outing. Thanks to Mule Bentley, they will be spending their money and time in another less judgmental and backasswards state. Good job Dr. Dr.
The Montgomery Advertiser claims that "Few in Alabama Are Upset"

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Frack MixPlex Gives Vincent Alabama Confidential and Others A Much Appreciated "Attaboy!"

And we thank them for it, along with their hard work on advancing issues that we all should care about. Kudos to our fellow like-minded bloggers and the mighty keyboards they sit behind. We would add the work of Dr. Robert Bullard as high on our own list, because without him there would be no modern day environmental justice movement.

Mixplex Environmental Justice Blogroll Note

On Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day Jan. 17, 2011), America deserves to be reminded that hard on the trail of King's Civil Rights legacy in Alabama is the way Alabama's poor have been victimized by negligent environmental law.

The daily posts of Max Shelby and his group, blogging in Alabama about the environment, politics, big business and corruption are some of the boldest independent voices writing in the U.S. on environment justice today.

If you're not following writers like Shelby's Vincent Alabama Confidential, Sharon Wilson's Bluedaze, Shelly Thomas on Futurism Now, Ken Ward Jr.'s Coal Tattoo, the late Karen Korell's Splashdown, Bill Wolfe's Wolfenotes, Amy Mall's blog on NRDC Switchboard, Rick Plitz on Climate Science Watch, and the many other personal and professional authors, videomakers, humorists, and journalists located by scrolling through these double pages: Background, Companies, Experts, Government, Legal, Opinions and Press, you are missing out on the most entertaining, free, participatory, First Amendment, punch the bully in the nose shows in this nation.

This writing takes courage and sacrifice and I want to recognize them all here on MLK Day through Shelby's 2010 post as the proudest way that we demonstrate to the World that we will manage our industries without the sacrifice of liberty by ensuring that our laws are fair and just to all.
(2011-01-14, nz.)

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Sleeping With the Enemy

Corporate legal power is so extraordinary through the deep pocket clients they represent that our only ally to enforce and oversee environmental regulations is the EPA. When former EPA and state regulatory officials go to work for corporate law firms who align themselves with big business clients, that are known serious environmental offenders, they betray the public's interests.

It is fundamentally wrong on it's face. 

And it does not happen by accident.

Larger law firms and individual attorneys frequently and deliberately employ "headhunters" (aka "Recruiters") to find these turncoats. The government personnel who seek private employment may not all be traitors to their agencies; they may simply be seeking to move up in their profession, and replace a civil service income with a private sector employer who pays more.  But many would argue that when attorneys move from being a regulatory watchdog enforcer to being a corporate defender, it's a step down, a big one. It's one of those career moves that raises eyebrows and questions misplaced loyalty.

The private sector is a lot less forgiving of people who "jump ship:" the corporate world frowns on this kind of unchecked revolving door policy, and forces departing employees to sign "non-compete" clauses that limit their future activities for a specific period of time after they leave the company, and make them liable for theft of proprietary information and knowledge of processes and procedures. 

Unfortunately, there are no limits in place for public officials who can walk out the door and immediately sell what they know to the highest bidder.

There should be.

We're saying all of this because we've received a press release from a reader that calls our attention to the latest "get" of one of Alabama's biggest and most powerful law firms, Balch & Bingham. 

They've recently hired a former senior environmental lawyer from EPA Region 4.

Richard Glaze Press Release

Readers of this site should be familiar with that firm, but here's a little refresher:

• BARD lawyers--the Orwellian brainchild of Stephen Bradley (Governor-elect Bentley's transition team communications director) that's made up of some of the largest companies in Alabama. BARD (aka New Mules) gets their kicks castrating environmentalists and muscling their way into Alabama's politics. Alabama Power, Harbert Corporation and Drummond Coal are the biggest mules in the stable of  "the dirty nineteen of Alabama."

• Represented Chemical Waste (division of Waste Management) in the infamous "Cadillac of toxic landfills" Emelle in Sumter county, Alabama.

• Represented ExxonMobil against the state of *Alabama. 

*(The appeal which reduced the judgment to the state by millions.)

Readers can draw their own conclusions about the motives for representing these types of interests, but huge fees and bonuses probably figure into it.

We think it's important to note that S. Eason Balch is the legal adviser on the next Alabama Governor's transition team, and his sole client as a lobbyist is Alabama Power (pg. 4 of 84). You may also note that Alabama Power is also firmly entrenched on the team in other key positions. 

Alabama Power has come under fire to replace their "corporate director's veil of secrecy with a mantle of good stewardship." (LexisNexis "The Devil Made Me Do It" San Diego Law Review 1999 *requires a small fee to view)

This one doesn't. 

How much influence does Alabama Power CEO Charles McCrary, chairman of Governor-elect Bentley's transition team have?

"He walks softly and carries a big stick of his organization behind him," Pate said. "He is right up in the middle of every significant issue that involves the state."

The citizens of Alabama elected individual politicians that they felt confident in to represent their interests in Montgomery for the next four years. It's beginning to look like that they elected Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham by proxy and the end result is that these two entities may have just gotten a lot more influence over state policy than they should have.

We understand the new governor wants to surround himself with the best possible people for his transition into office, but this appears one-sided and rife with certain special interests wants first and foremost.

The hiring of Mr. Glaze raises some questions in our minds because of Bentley's parroting of the phrase of "state's right's" in respect to the federal environmental regulations of businesses in Alabama along with the company he's keeping, some of whom are tied directly to Balch & Bingham and Alabama Power.

Only "yes" men need apply to this law firm.
Managing Partner Alan Rogers quoted in the Birmingham Business Journal September 2010:
“We are looking to bypass candidates who may have other attractive, tangible qualities but who also carry with them a sense that they can be disruptive or do anything that can weaken the culture that we value,” Rogers said. “We will pass on that candidate.”

The culture they value is quite apparent and against what Mr. Glaze has done with the EPA.

 

Mr. Glaze's accomplishments, accolades and awards while at the EPA:

• Gold Medal for Superior Performance for Maxey Flats Superfundsite remedial action and cost recovery settlement; the EPA Special Act Award

• Certificate of Recognition from Attorney General of Kentucky for Clean Water Act settlement

• EPA Silver Medal for Superior Performance for conviction of four individuals and three corporations in prosecution of McWane, Inc.

• EPA Bronze Medal for TSCA settlement with Department of Defense involving polychlorinated biphenyl remediation at Oak Ridge Federal Facility

• EPA Bronze Medal for National Relocation Pilot Project for the Escambia Treating Company Superfund Site

• Department of Justice Special Achievement Award for Superfund Enforcement.

He's done some impressive work on behalf of the EPA and the citizens, so why the drastic job change Mr. Glaze? With all due respect to Balch & Bingham, their history does not portray them as environmental stewards and there's some compelling irony here: Is Mr. Glaze the turning of the page for this firm? We highly doubt it.

The timing of this hire is interesting to us for a number of reasons, but there is one issue that particularly raises our suspicions about it and that someone like Mr. Glaze could be quite useful for. We know from from previously published news stories and the *October issue of The Alabama Journal that Balch & Bingham lawyers are on top of this increased EPA oversight issue and are sowing the seeds of state's rights as an argument to defeat it. Judging from the dismal performance of ADEM, it's obvious why.

*(Page 19, paragraph three)

The regulatory agency for the state, ADEM, is under fire from 14 environmental groups for its woefully inadequate job of protecting Alabama's environment and her citizens from the effects of big business run amok. These groups have filed a a legal petition with the US EPA to have ADEM's water permitting authority removed and taken over by the EPA.

It's a very serious move that has been a long time coming, and it that will have huge consequences for big business that resists compliance with federal laws. They know it and are not pleased about it. They'll argue that being made to follow the rules will cost jobs and impede the state from attracting more businesses, which resonates with the average citizen and we won't fault that point, if it was the truth that is. But it's not.

We're not against Big Business per se, we simply want them to follow the rules and be held accountable. Powerful moneyed interests have had their way in Alabama for years, to the great detriment of our state and our citizens. Some of these companies have grown so wealthy and powerful here that they are costing all of us, in fair representative government and in jobs. There are responsible corporations in the US who will not come to a state that is as wide open and plays as fast and loose as Alabama has historically demonstrated it can, and will.

We would like to say to the companies that are here, and to those that are thinking of coming here: Conduct your business, open your plants, but play by the rules, boys. Accept that corporate and legal transparency are not a bad thing.  People will be more open to what you want to do if you simply tell the truth about your intentions and your operations, and mitigate any harm by putting safeguards in place BEFORE disaster strikes, or poison spreads.

But that's not the direction we're moving, here in Alabama. These corporate giants don't like any rules except their own. Federal laws exist to be shredded and are constantly under attack and argued as "unfriendly to business." There's some truth in that, but the Mules don't want any regulations and a federal hands-off approach suits them fine.

As John Archibald of the Birmingham News so aptly says (paraphrasing): "The Mule way is the way it's always been in Alabama."

Americans are fed up with the presence of special interests in their politician's pockets and influencing government. Former governmental officials who bed-hop in their careers to what the public perceives as the enemy camp, may improve their financial postion, but they do so at risk of public ire.

In our opinion, we fear that this recent hire by Balch & Bingham is just another example of the shady revolving door policy that angers so many Americans, not just Alabamians. It's also symptomatic of the mindset of resist the rules at every turn. You need an insider to really pull that off and now Balch & Bingham has one in Mr. Glaze.

The ex-civil servants who decide to change sides bring with them a vast, intimate knowledge of their agency's workings, and personal acquaintance with the agency personnel, co-workers and supervisors, with whom they served with for years. They still have friends in these agencies and it's always hard to say no to friends when they turn up at some later date and ask for favors.

We're betting that's exactly what Balch & Bingham is counting on.

We have some advice for Mr. Glaze: Hopping into a warm bed with a willing partner is tempting, but the lamb doesn't lie down with the lion unless it wants to be lamb chops. Sleeping With the Enemy is Risky Business.


So Say We the Opinion Board of the Vincent Alabama Confidential