Cherokee Mining and the Black Warrior River

In 2007, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper took Cherokee Mining to court for violating the Clean Water Act. When the company sought to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management was already prosecuting the case, the judge denied the motion.

SELC stepped in when Cherokee Mining attempted to overturn this decision—an attempt foiled by a federal appeals court ruling in November 2008. The court upheld the ability of citizens and conservation groups to bring lawsuits that can be critically important when state and federal agencies lack the resources or the political will to pursue clean water cases to the fullest.

What’s at issue in the case?

• A section of the Clean Water Act allows citizens to sue polluters, even when the Environmental Protection Agency or a state agency has initiated enforcement proceedings.
• The mining company asked the court to interpret this part of the law very narrowly so that it applies only to states that rely solely on EPA to enforce environmental protections. The State of Alabama and industry interests also entered the case, pushing for this restrictive reading of the law.
• On behalf of river advocacy groups in Alabama and Georgia, SELC filed a “friend of the court” brief to uphold the full power of this provision in the Clean Water Act.

The ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with our argument. If the company’s appeal had been successful, it would have severely limited citizen suits in states such as Alabama and Georgia that have their own environmental agencies.