Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Warrior Met Coal Reach Settlement in Lawsuit

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Warrior Met Coal have filed a proposed consent decree in federal court requiring the coal producer to repair its leaking coal sludge storage facility and stop discharging polluted wastewater without a permit into Mine No. 7 near Brookwood in Tuscaloosa County.

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Black Warrior Riverkeeper says the court will consider the proposed settlement after the U.S. Department of Justice has 45 days to provide comment.

The nonprofit environmental protection group says unauthorized discharges from the approximately 400-acre Slurry Impoundment No. 14 of Mine No. 7 flow into an unnamed tributary that eventually flows into Texas Creek, a tributary of Davis Creek.

From there, Davis Creek flows into the Black Warrior River at Holt Lake.

“Texas Creek and Davis Creek are streams that local people and wildlife enjoy on a regular basis,” said Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke. “Controlling Warrior Met Coal’s unpermitted wastewater is vital to protecting these beautiful creeks.”

Slurry Impoundment No. 14 collects and consolidates wastewater from all aspects of underground mining and coal processing.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2022 over the coal mine’s unauthorized discharges, which Black Warrior Riverkeeper says fail to comply with the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is requesting that Warrior Met Coal implement an action plan approved by the federal Mining Safety and Health Administration. The plan includes installing a liner to repair the leaking dam that is holding back millions of gallons of coal sludge.

If the project is approved, after the action plan is completed, Warrior Met Coal will take samples to assess whether the liner has successfully stopped the discharges.

Additionally, the nonprofit says the coal producer has also agreed to participate in Alabama’s Dam Safety Program, in an effort to add additional inspections and requirements for the maintenance and care of Slurry Impoundment No. 14.

Finally, as part of the settlement, Warrior Met will pay $250,000 to the Freshwater Land Trust to establish a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) in Black Warrior’s Davis Creek sub-basin and will reimburse Black Warrior Riverkeeper $28,000 in costs and attorney fees.

“We are very pleased that WMC is willing to resolve this issue and establish a SEP that will give back to the Davis Creek area,” said Eva Dillard, staff attorney for Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

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