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Up one levelNo justice, no place: Alabama Arise develops environmental justice initiatives
The movies helped to make Bayou La Batre famous – Forrest Gump featured the south Alabama town and Disney launched a bona fide pirate ship out of the namesake bayou during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Secrets of the Black Pearl. Doubtless the place deserves to be in pictures, but neighboring towns might be wishing for a real-life change of scenery in Bayou La Batre.
Mussels in Shades Creek point to healthier water
Shades Creek, once thought to be ruined by decades of pollution and abuse from the Birmingham area, seems to have survived with its water quality and aquatic life intact. Biologists say the discovery this month of a live mussel and the fresh shell of another mussel species surprised them. Mussels are sensitive to pollution and unable to move in and out as water quality changes.
Letter to the editor in the Birmingham News: A Victory for Public Health
Alabama Rivers Alliance Executive Director Cindy Lowry: "Alabamians received a victory for public health at the Environmental Management Commission meeting Friday, when a majority of the commissioners present voted to reduce the cancer risk allowed in our waterways from 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 1 million."
Going green's in the bag
Whole Foods announced this year that it plans to eliminate plastic shopping bags by Earth Day, April 22. The store has asked customers to bring their plastic bags from home to be recycled, offering 10 cents for each bag; customers who bring in 10 plastic bags receive the 99-cent reusable Whole Foods Better Bag. (Through the end of April, the Whole Foods at Cahaba Village is asking customers to donate the 10 cents they receive back from their plastic bags to the Alabama Rivers Alliance.)
Earth Day Celebrations
Party for the planet at the Birmingham Zoo drew 16,000 people last year and this year may top that, with free rides on trains, camels, and the carousel.
"Let's Play" Birmingham News Earth Day Commentary
My four-year-old daughter is a princess. No really, she wears crowns and tiaras most of the day, flowing dresses and silver sparkling shoes. One of her most prized possessions is a Canadian coin with Queen Elizabeth on it. A few weeks ago, my princess had a transformative experience. She and I went out to see the Dick’s Sporting Goods Outdoor Adventure Road Tour, where there was a paddle/canoe demonstration and a huge fish tank, with professional fishermen showing folks how to fish. It was the fish that got her, literally “hooked.”
ADEM toughens carcinogenic regulations
MONTGOMERY -- A state environmental panel Friday approved new rules to tighten the regulation of carcinogens in Alabama's waterways. Environmental groups say the move will bring Alabama in line with water standards around the Southeast and reduce the risk of cancer from activities such as swimming and eating fish.
Panel ups the standards for carcinogens in water
MONTGOMERY - Environmentalists won a victory Friday with the state Environmental Management Commission's vote to cut the amount of cancer-causing substances that can be dumped into rivers and streams by Alabama industries.
Victory for Public Health and Public Pariticipation!
Today the Environmental Management Commission passed a rule change that will reduce the allowable cancer risk levels in Alabama’s waterways from 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 1 million!
Endangered Goldline Darters found in Shades Creek
We found what may be the first native mussel shells ever recovered in Shades Creek near the second riffle we sampled (33 12'24"N, 87 1' 4"W) which David Campbell (UA) identified as Quadrula asperata (Alabama Orb) and Q. verrucosa (Pistolgrip). Both shells were badly weathered. We collected three Goldline Darters (Percina aurolineata) at the third riffle we sampled at a pipeline crossing (33 1'58"N, 87 1' 16"W).
Alabama Legislature votes for water management committee
The Alabama Legislature passed a resolution Thursday to develop something the state doesn't have — a statewide water management plan, despite a severe drought and years of tri-state water talks.
Alabama Legislature passes resolution to develop statewide water management plan
SJR 28, sponsored by Sen. Kim Benefield, D-Woodland, has passed both the House and Senate. This bill creates the Alabama Permanent Joint Legislative Committee on Water Policy and Management.
Mentone Landowner Raises Eyebrows
Recent clearing of land near Mentone has garnered the attention of nearby residents, as well as state and federal agencies.
3rd Court Victory for Rivers Alliance and Friends of Hurricane Creek in case against TRI Mining Company
3rd court victory in TRI case for the Alabama Rivers Alliance and Friends of Hurricane Creek
DOT officials vow to improve in light of U.S. 98 woes
Promising to listen more, follow environmental laws and create a hot line for reporting problems on road projects, state Transportation Director Joe McInnes on Thursday said his agency was using the environmental failures on U.S. 98 as motivation to improve.
Tri-state water negotiations won't meet today's deadline
Alabama, Florida and Georgia will miss a deadline today for settling their decades-long fight over how to divide the region's water. The governors of the three states had agreed to a Feb. 15 deadline imposed by the Bush administration to reach a water sharing pact. But a flurry of talks, ending Wednesday night, failed to produce a treatise.
Public comment period open for ADEM’s list of polluted waters
The draft 2008 303d list of water quality-impaired water bodies has been published by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, who is accepting public comments on the draft list.
Governor Riley's press release: Water War Victory
Governor Bob Riley hailed a major victory today for Alabama in its long-running water war with Georgia
Georgia loses Lanier water rights case
It would take an act of Congress to get more drinking water out of Lake Lanier for metro Atlanta, a federal appellate court ruled Tuesday.
No justice, no place: Alabama Arise develops environmental justice initiatives