A ‘lost cause’ becomes a conservation victory in Alabama

In a heavily wooded cove on the Mulberry Fork of Alabama’s Black Warrior River, a bald eagle circles above and the top of a beaver’s head pokes up from the calm water. Nelson Brooke pauses his lecture on the history of pollution in this area until the upstaging rodent has passed.  

“From commercial poultry processing to more than a century of pollution from Plant Gorgas, the basin of this river has been hammered,” Brooke, Black Warrior’s Riverkeeper, explains as he helps passengers step onto his aluminum patrol boat.  

The group is just upstream from where the Mulberry and Locust forks meet to form the main stem of the Black Warrior River in Jefferson County. Just looking at the placid water and tinge of yellow fall foliage starting to show, you’d never know it can be unsafe to eat fish in this part of the river because of the pollution levels. 

Brooke became Riverkeeper in 2004 to help protect the river he’s fished since he was seven years old. Today he’s celebrating a two-fold victory in that fight — stopping a major source of pollution and conserving this piece of land to help Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s mission of protecting the river.  

“Biologists say the Mulberry Fork is a lost cause,” Brooke says. “I don’t believe it. Nature’s pretty resilient.” 

The Maxine Mine saga 

Less than two and half miles away, on the Locust Fork, is the carcass of the largest underground mine in Alabama. Drummond Company’s Maxine Mine produced tons of coal every year after opening in the 1930s but the property has sat abandoned since operations stopped in the 1980s. For decades after shuttering, unchecked pollution, including acid mine drainage and coal waste, flowed from the abandoned site into the Locust Fork and ultimately the Black Warrior River. 

Maxine Mine was as bad as it gets.

Barry Brock, SELC’s Alabama Office Director

“Maxine Mine was as bad as it gets,” says Barry Brock, Director of SELC’s Alabama office. “Mine waste had completely filled what was once a tributary of the Locust Fork. The site needed serious remediation to stop the ongoing pollution.”  

In 2016, SELC, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, and Public Justice filed a lawsuit against Drummond for violating the Clean Water Act at the mine site. This started a more than five-year legal battle in federal court. In August 2022, the court approved a consent decree requiring Drummond to clean it up.  

The consent decree was a major victory for the health of the Locust Fork and Black Warrior River.  

“This ruling really set a precedent for polluters here in Alabama,” Brock says. “Local industries know they need to take responsibility for violating federal law and contaminating clean water.” 

As part of the consent decree, Drummond agreed to pay $1 million toward a Supplemental Environmental Project, or SEP. SEPs are common in pollution settlement agreements and provide tangible ecological or public health benefits to the affected community or environment.  

“I’ve been dreaming about a way to conserve the confluence of the Mulberry and Locust forks for a long time,” Brooke says. “That funding was a real silver lining for everything that happened at Maxine Mine.”  

Freshwater Land Trust’s strong track record 

The peninsula at the confluence of the Mulberry and Locust forks is covered in a forest of various pine, sweetgum, and white oaks. Blue herons and egrets nest and hunt along the shore. At the time of the Maxine Mine settlement, it was owned by Drummond Company and used as a hunting camp. 

“That unique piece of land and its history makes it a prime candidate for our habitat restoration work,” says Sam McCoy with the Freshwater Land Trust (FLT). “Sweetgum and loblolly pine are native, but don’t supply the greatest value to wildlife. With some responsible management practices like prescribed fire, we can encourage the growth of more oaks and hickories, which contribute more to wildlife diversity.” 

It’s worth highlighting FLT’s strong track record of implementing SEPs. In fact, the organization was established in the mid-90s through a SEP included in a settlement  involving Jefferson County, Cahaba River Society, and SELC.  

“Freshwater Land Trust was thrilled to come to the table and be a part of the dialogue between Drummond Company and Black Warrior Riverkeeper to figure out the best use of the SEP funds,” McCoy says. On the table was nearly 260 acres of virtually untouched land. “What we’re exceptionally proud of is Drummond volunteering to donate the remaining 107 acres of the parcel, allowing us to protect the entire peninsula, not just part of it. We believe this is a great outcome for everyone involved.” 

After Freshwater Land Trust acquired and conserved the 366 acres, the group invited the SELC and Black Warrior Riverkeeper teams to the peninsula to see the result of their years-long work up close.  

After a hike on the property, and a sub sandwich lunch, the teams trot down a steep hill where Brooke and the boat are waiting. The size of the newly conserved property is much more impressive from the water.  

Everyone reaches for their ball caps when Brooke pulls the throttle back on the boat. He assures everyone he’ll turn around to retrieve any lost hats with a twinkle in his eye. Further up the Mulberry Fork, he slows the boat to point out where the conserved parcel ends and homes begin dotting the shoreline.  

“This waterway flows hundreds of miles through the Cumberland Plateau to the tail of the Appalachian Mountains to the coastal plain. To me this is one of the river’s special places,” Brooke says. “Now we just need to get this piece of river healthy so it’s as inviting as it looks.”