Bama Belle Dinner Cruise Was A Success

The annual dinner and cruise on the Bama Belle was a huge success this year. The event sold out within a couple of weeks after tickets went on sale. 

Photo Nelson Brooke

It was touch and go for a while with a large thunderstorm looming just south of the landing but as the time drew closer, the clouds broke up and provided a perfectly beautiful evening for a paddle wheel excursion on the river the raise funds and awareness for the Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Friends of Hurricane Creek / Hurricane Creekkeeper.

We shoved off right on time and headed up river with a crew full of fun. 

We were joined by a great band again this year.

Photo, Nelson Brooke

 The "No Joes" played an assortment of classic rock, blues and even allowed me to break out my old Martin guitar to play and sing a few numbers with them. They were wonderful and very patient with me. (it's been nearly 20 years since I played in public) What a hoot to sing "Southern Smoke" while sitting on a paddle wheeler at the mouth of Hurricane Creek.

Photo by Casie Jones

Photo by Charles Scribner

Captain Craig Dodson was kind enough to take the Belle all the way to the mouth of Hurricane Creek and just float around a bit while I made my speech about the creek.  For the first time I can remember for many years, I did not have my cameras with me so I'll have to use some older photos to show how beautiful the mouth of the creek is.

Capt. Craig Dodson. Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

I took that time to acknowledge an elder in the crowd. Sam Curren, Grampa Sam to me, was someone who came into my life many years ago while fighting a coal mine in the watershed which was going to destroy a sacred historical site. We became hard, fast friends in just a short time. When I got seriously ill from toxic conditions at a work place, it was Sam who first recognized that I was sick. He told me how to find Yellow Root and make a medicine out of it. It kept me alive while the medical doctors figured out I had been basically poisoned at work. One of the doctors told me that if I had not been taking the Yellow Root diuretic tea to keep my liver and kidneys open I might have died.

 Sam made sure I knew how to make it and insisted that I exercise by swimming in the creek. It worked and I am alive today because of Hurricane Creek and Sam's knowledge of the medicines here.

Grampa inspired me in those early years to stand up for what is right for the rivers and the environment but more importantly the people who depend on them.



 While I was at Standing Rock, N.D. I was always seeing things and hearing songs that made me think... "I wish Grampa could be here" He admired a photo I took of a friends Tipi in the moonlight so I printed it out and surprised him with it on the boat.

Photo by Charles Scribner

Little did I know that he had a surprise for me as well. He gifted me a beautiful bear claw necklace with very old trade beads and 7 Black Bear claws. It is a token of strength, courage, and protection. Bear Medicine is very powerful, thank you Grampa for sharing with me.

      The coolest part of it all was that it took place standing on the deck of the 

Bama Belle at the mouth of Hurricane Creek.

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

On the way back to town, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Nelson Brooke talked about the river and what we were seeing along the banks as we passed many of the industrial pollution sources there. Since Nelson stepped up as the Riverkeeper he has impressed me with his passion, knowledge, and tenacity when confronting the many pollution sources in the watershed. I have the rare honor of being able to share the watershed with him as Hurricane Creekkeeper. After all, Hurricane Creek is the crown Jewel of the Black Warrior.

A huge shout-out of thanks to Charles Scribner for handling all of the arrangements which made this event such a rave success. Charlie works hard at organizing chaos at events like this one. Thank you sir!

Another thank you goes out for all the sponsors and suppliers including, but not limited to;

 PRADCO (The world's leading manufacturer of hunting and fishing products) Snows Bend Farm,

 Bo Hicks, Druid City brewery for hosting a sampling of local craft beers. 

Photo by Charles Scribner

The Levee came with tons of great food!

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

The food was definitely a crowd pleaser.

An artist, Gail Esch brought a hand painted piece that is connected to the river scene by DNA. She takes water from the subject river and actually makes the paint for her work. She has agreed to come and do one for us using Hurricane Creek water. I can't wait!

Photo by Charles Scribner

No event is complete without the volunteers who help herd us like cats through the process of setting up doling out free stuff and most importantly, seeing that everyone gets their free beer tickets ;)

Photo by Charles Scribner

It sells out every year. Captain Craig is selling the Belle but we all hope she will stay in the area and we can continue this fun-filled and productive event. Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Hurricane Creekkeeper are proud members of an international family of Waterkeepers. From both organizations, I'd like to thank all of the community of supporters. We can't do the work without that. Enjoy some shots from the trip and make plans to look for the next one!

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo, Nelson Brooke

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Photo by Charles Scribner

Lance LeFleur job review comments!

Lance LeFleur job review comments!

There's still time to file at this address. ( https://alabamarivers.salsalabs.org/adem_job_performance/index.html )

My comments...

Please accept these comments on the lack of performance and inefficiency by Director Lance LeFleur.

Since he took over as director, the enforcement part of ADEMs responsibility has been all but ignored. Chronic and egregious violations of the CWA receive multiple “letters”, which ADEM considers enforcement action. The letters seldom have any deterrent penalties attached and are given an arbitrary compliance timeline which often exceeds the length of time to actually make repairs. During these arbitrary grace periods, ADEM doesn’t inspect the sites for compliance, which is a requirement. The polluters know that ADEM will not likely inspect again until the arbitrary time frame nears the end, so they make no effort to comply with either the consent order or the permit requirements. Case in point Advanced Disposal Landfill in Tuscaloosa Co. Land Permit # 63-16, NPDES ALG160090

This facility has remained out of compliance since 2013 that I can document. Everything from off-site tracking to improper BMPs, water quality violations, and failure to provide compaction and or cover weekly as described in the permit has been documented on a regular basis for several years. I have personally submitted hundreds of photos in dozens of complaints since 2012. The files are full. ADEM accepted the polluter’s misinformed responses despite hard evidence of chronic violations. In a recent consent order where ADEM water division got involved there was finally a penalty issues in the amount of $54,900.00. That may sound like a lot but given it covered several years of non-compliant behavior is comes to pennies on the dollar what it should be. The fines are mostly less than cost of business to comply. ADEM has never issued a maximum $250,000 “maximum fine” in the Hurricane Creek watershed to my knowledge. ADEM can assess much larger penalty amounts if they file a lawsuit with an aim to truly set precedent and deter future violations.

Under LeFleur the inspections have gotten less and facilitated by less qualified inspectors. Inspectors routinely arrive at the above landfill facility and ride with the operator for guided tours and not independent inspections. I have read inspection reports that claim my hard photographic evidence doesn’t exist. Flagging waste, deep rills, lack of cover, no proper haul road, erosion of all closed faces, and the smell emanating from the area. In one case, an inspector took photos of a failing BMP device stating that it was intact and the wood I had reported floating loosely in the pond was “holding the litter screen in place”. This is an outright lie. The device had been reported years before as defective but this inspector fabricated information and falsified an official report. Either the inspectors are inadequately trained, lack initiative, or are far too cozy with the polluters on LeFleur’s watch.

Another failure to protect under the LeFleur administration was Beacon Place ALR 10AU84, which operated from April 2016 to at least July 2018 in non-compliance. They had large excavations attached to the permitted site that was NOT under permit for more than 2 years. I notified ADEM inspectors of this but they decided to take the word of the polluter over hard evidence again. There were chronic offsite impact violations during the entire construction project. ADEM was informed that the permit map had been deviated from and none of the discharge points were as located properly. Entire drain systems drawn in the plans were nonexistent and others installed with no engineering modifications to the permit. Inspectors routinely accepted the false information given by the polluter rather than hard evidence and performing their own independent, thorough inspections as they are paid to do. There are many other projects and issues for which Mr. LeFleur and his “bare bones program” have caused. Lack of enforcement is the single largest cause of impaired streams in Alabama and Lance is the head of this impotent agency.

    

A train carrying Bakken Crude derailed just outside Aliceville Alabama on Nov. 8, 2013. On Dec.09, 2013, ADEM issued statements that did not spread because a beaver day held it back! This statement not only shows a complete ignorance of the environmental conditions created by beavers but a willful misinformation campaign to mislead the public. When questioned about it later Lance claimed the ongoing cleanup was successful in removing most of the oil. This was also completely fabricated since I had been on the site almost weekly posting the lack of progress Lance claimed so successful. No maintenance had taken place until after the first media story broke.

One of the first things I noticed and documented was the railroad contractor using oil-saturated soil to rebuild the rail bed. Oil was weeping profusely from the rebuilt bed material. I took photos and video to ADEM in Montgomery to a meeting where Lance and Steve Jenkins, and several of my colleagues were both present. Steve was in charge of the so-called cleanup and response. When I presented the evidence to Lance Stave shouted me down saying I was overreacting, wrong and making it up. Lance took Steve’s word and quickly announced the meeting was over before ever seeing all of the evidence. He did not want to see it because he would then have to admit being wrong. Like Mr. Trump, Lance has a hard time admitting he is wrong. The site of the train wreck still today weeps Bakken Crude oil from the sediment when disturbed.

Nothing at the Aliceville wreck site was properly handled by ADEM. None of the contaminated soil should have been allowed to go back in the swamp. Lance turned a blind eye to the damages created by the “repairs” to the railroad while oil flowed freely through the swamp.

This video and subsequent photos were taken and edited 03/02/14, 4 months after the wreck. Nothing here resembles ongoing oil removal as proclaimed by Lance LeFleur, ADEM Director, Dec.09, 2013… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9mGMH4Rb3M&t=13s

                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk-_-u3zhXM&t=12s

3 days later… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKG1y4MPUY

9 weeks out… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2EIgVJiWfc

11 weeks out… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWC5I-D9aSc

News stories…

https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20140315/oil-mars-aliceville-swampland-months-after-train-derailment

https://www.facingsouth.org/2014/01/alabama-oil-train-disaster-met-with-official-negle.html

The level of ADEMs involvement in the fiasco in North B’ham was and is disgraceful. Mr. LeFleur claimed no knowledge of the crimes some were indicted on but it was on his watch. I will let my colleagues from that area expand on the technical issues associated with that case.

175,000 dead fish in the Black Warrior River could have and should have been prevented. The company responsible had other “incidents” where they discharged toxic water into the river. No meaningful penalties or enforcement was taken under LeFleur's “bare bones” lack of enforcement. When a company like Tyson or Advanced Disposal Landfill knows the state isn’t going to take action, they will continue to pollute with reckless frequency. When asked by Cynthia Gould about the fish kill, LeFleur blew her off saying he had to be fair with the polluter. What about being fair with our rivers and streams? How about being fair with our children’s health around these rivers? How about ADEM doing it’s job by enforcing the laws?

Mr. LeFleur is incapable of running an environment protection agency such as ADEM because; he himself seems not care about enforcement or understands the complexities of Alabama’s environment. He has stated publicly that “ADEM’s job is not to enforce the Clean Water Act, ADEM’s job is to issue permits.”  I harshly disagree!

One of the major complaints coming from Lance is how under funded ADEM is but he has made no real efforts to change that. He was quoted, as saying that the state told him to run a “bare bones program” The state does not tell the director what to do. Even if they could, I don’t think “bare bones” meant stop enforcement and simply issue permits that will not be upheld.

Advanced Disposal Landfill Tracking Non-compliance

 ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management)
has blocked all of my complaints sent today. With that said, I will publish them publicly.  




Citizen Compliant: 07/24/19

Please accept this citizen complaint on behalf of Hurricane Creekkeeper and Friends of Hurricane Creek regarding Advanced Disposal Landfill Land permit #63-16 and NPDES ALG160090.

 A recent consent order response was posted to ADEM E-file site, which included a few issues I'd like to address.

 "In order to further prevent offsite tracking, Eagle Bluff Landfill proposes to design and install a wheel wash. If their tires require cleaning, customer trucks will be required to pass through the wheel wash after disposing of their load and prior to exiting the facility. The proposed wheel wash system will be self-contained, and no water will be allowed to discharge from this system. Any solids that accumulate within this system will be removed and placed in the landfill area. Any liquid that is required to be removed will be disposed at a proper disposal facility. At no point will liquid from the wheel wash system be allowed to discharge through the storm water drainage system."

I am pleased that ADLF finally admits they need to address tire tracking. It has been a chronic issue for years and the violations basically ignored by ADEM until recently. With that said there are a couple of things that need to be addressed. According to the report ADLF intends to install the tire wash by Dec. 31, 2019. This is unacceptable since there are many plans and even installation companies that do this type work on a regular basis. In less than 15 minutes I was able to locate such companies and plans online. (https://www.tirewash.com/) ADLF has shown in the past that these delay tactics only facilitate further non-compliance. ADEM has a responsibility to enforce the rules even while ADLF delays compliance with the current consent order. Recent rain events have proven once again that as long as ADEM gives extremely long time frames to reach compliance the landfill will take full advantage. ADEM needs to inspect frequently and without prior notice to ADLF personnel for compliance given the history of non-compliance at this facility. The order issued to ADLF clearly states that they must comply with permit requirements during the arbitrary time frame set forth to correct past issues.

In the consent order there is a clause that demands ADLF must maintain compliance with permit requirements. That included an adequate haul road that prevents offsite tracking. 

On 05/25/19 ADLF applied a few loads of rock to the haul road and one pile was left in the drain flow of a seep previously noted. On 06/05/19 Inspector Johnson took a photo of the segment of haul road directly in front of the office as if to indicate that the whole road looked like that. It was far from accurate. To date, that was the last time the so-called haul road was addressed. As of today, it has reverted back to the red mud it was before. Every truck entering the ADLF with clean tires comes out covered with mud during even minimal rain events. As stated dozens of times before, the sweeper is doing nothing more than spreading the mud to the side of the road where it runs off into the unnamed tributary along 12^th street. In a short time in the sun, the mud becomes overwhelming dust clouds. 
At this time ADLF is in violation of said order. 

25th Anniversary of Friends of Hurricane Creek Cleanup

This Friday, Feb, 23, 2018 will mark 25 years since the Strokers Paddle Club and Friends of Hurricane Creek had our first creek cleanup. We will celebrate this year on Sat. Feb. 24th at Watson's Bend

The first Hurricane Creek Cleanup

At the first cleanup we cooked hamburgers and chicken on a makeshift grill on the side of the road near the bridge.

We started with 16 members including our children. The next year we had 32 members and the 3rd year it was many more. All together at one time we hosted around 200 members and volunteers. 

FoHC has removed literally tons of trash and debris over the years including appliances, cars, household garbage, and thousands of tires over time. We took 232 tires from one location is a single day. The work has been long and tiring but well worth the effort.

2007

Scenes like this have been transformed,

2017

to scenes like this.























It has always puzzled me how some people think the outdoors is the best place to dispose of unwanted items and garbage but it happens every day. Without efforts like the FoHC Cleanup it would simply accumulate to a point of being not only unsightly but unhealthy and in some cases dangerous. Localized flooding during heavy rain events is mostly caused by stopped up drains.

Thanks to Rumsey for the can!

When this much litter builds up it has no choice but to run into our drinking water watersheds. Cities all over America are spending millions of tax payer funds removing the bulk of litter before it reaches the water processing facilities. Millions more are spent removing it from local street and road drains.

I'd like to think that over the years we have helped the community by removing tons of waste using local volunteers at a cost of "0" tax-payer dollars. Litter, after all was the catalyst for our group to begin 25 years ago. Unfortunately it is still a huge issue today.

There's nothing prettier than a clean creek

With that said, I'd like to invite the entire community to come out to Watson's Bend on Hurricane Creek and help us celebrate this monumental event. (see map below) This marks our 25th anniversary. We have the longest continuous running stream cleanup is Alabama History. Come share your Hurricane Creek stories with us. I'll be interviewing volunteers on camera for a video we are creating so come tell us what it is about the creek that makes it special for you.

THERE WILL BE FOOD!

This year we are going back to an old tradition of having a chili cook-off with all of the chili being used to feed volunteers. Bring your grandmothers best recipe or your own best effort. There will be a $50.00 cash prize for the winner and a great sense of community participation by all.

Bring your best recipe and an apatite! Meat, Veggie, Vegan all welcome

Here's a tentative schedule of the days events. If you can't make the entire day, at least come spend a little time with us and tell your story about the wonderful treasure we have here in our community, Hurricane Creek.

Clean-up, Chili Cook-off and Celebration: 

Agenda

8:30 Registration opens

9 – 12:  Cleanup (roadside, creek and park) There will be a limited number of canoes available so come early to reserve one.

12 – 1:30 Chili cook-off and lunch

1:30 – 3:  Annual meeting (guest speakers, announcements, recognition's)

3 - ?:  Celebration and Friendly conversations around the fire.

HUGE Shout-out of Thanks

 Steven Rumsey started donating the use of these huge garbage cans some 15 years ago. Picking up the vast amount of litter would not be possible without someone to take it away. For that, I'd like to offer a personal as well as an organizational thank you to Steven Rumsey and the company he started, Rumsey Environmental Services.

In the event of a rain-out, we will try for the following week. We'll keep you posted.

We have only had 1 rain-out. Plenty of coffee and donuts that day

.

Watson's Bend on Holt Peterson Rd