January 19, 2002

#167

1) ADEM Director Reviews 2001 Accomplishments
2) Forever Wild Land Purchases Top 80,000 Acres
3) Alabama Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Anniston Incinerator
4) Sen. Shelby Endorses Nuclear Power
5) Coastal Cleanup Numbers
6) BEN Notes: RPC Seeking Greenway Planner, Scenic Alabama Seeking Executive Director, Wendy Allen Named Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust Director, Alabama Museum of Natural History Programs, Campaign Signs Editorial
7) Websites Featured In BEN #167

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Last week, at the Birmingham Audubon Society general interest meeting, Mark Bailey gave a wonderful and entertaining presentation (complete with slides
and audiotape) on frogs. Here are two "frog" quotes from his presentation attributed to Archie Carr, a famous University of Florida zoology professor,
who passed away a number of years ago.

"Frogs do for the night what birds do for the day... they give it a voice. And that voice is a varied and stirring thing that ought to be better known."

"I have always liked frogs. I liked them since before becoming a zoologist, and nothing I have had to learn about them since has marred the attachment.
I like "looks" of frogs and their outlook. And especially the way they get together in wet places on warm nights and sing about sex."

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1. ADEM Director Reviews 2001 Accomplishments - In a January 15th letter to Governor Don Siegelman, Alabama Department of Environmental Management
Director James Warr gave a "preview" report outlining some of the Department's 2001 accomplishments. Here is a sampling of those achievements listed in the letter.

* In 2001, ADEM cleaned up 230 sites having groundwater pollution resulting from leaking underground storage tanks and continued the management of approximately 2000 sites.

* The Department abated approximately 70 illegal dumps.

* During FY 2001, loans totaling more than $80 million were made to eight (8) wastewater treatment systems, while fifteen loans totaling more than $34 million went to water systems. The two revolving loan programs provide infrastructure improvements to protect water quality and provide safe drinking water.

* ADEM's laboratories performed 43,991 laboratory determinations, which support ambient environmental quality assessments and compliance assurance.

* ADEM's Alabama Nitrogen Oxides State Implementation Plan and Birmingham Ozone State Implementation Plan were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Both plans will reduce NOx pollution in Jefferson/Shelby Counties and the northern half of Alabama.

* Administrative orders issued during 2001 reflected an increase from FY 99 and FY 00. 235 orders were issued containing $2,054,260 in penalties.

A final year-end report will be finalized in the coming weeks. If you are interested in learning more about ADEM and their program's visit their website at http://www.adem.state.al.us or call 334-271-7700.

2. Forever Wild Land Purchases Top 80,000 Acres - Happy 10th Anniversary Forever Wild! Ten years ago this fall, the voters of Alabama overwhelming passed the Forever Wild Constitutional Amendment - Alabama's first land acquisition program. In less than a decade Forever Wild has purchased 18 tracts of land totaling more than 83,000 acres (the purchaseof the Southern Timber Ventures tract (31,500 acres) which will be completed later this year is included in this total).

Along with Forever Wild land purchases, an additional 11,000 to12,000 acres of land were protected as a result of joint partnerships with groups buying adjacent land. Furthermore, the Forever Wild program has raised more than $8 million in federal grants and private donations.

Forever Wild will be holding it's next board meeting February 7th, 10:00 a.m. in Montgomery. For more information about the program call State Lands at 334-242-3484.

3. Alabama Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Anniston Incinerator - According to the Associated Press, another group trying to halt the chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston lost their legal fight at the Alabama Supreme Court.

On Friday (January 18), the Supreme Court overturned a lower court order that said ADEM failed to follow state law when it issued the Army a permit to build and operate the incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot. The Coosa River Basin Initiative, filed suit challenging the state permit contending that the environmental agency didn't follow Alabama's Administrative Procedure Act when it determined the acceptable odds of contracting cancer from toxic emissions. In the permit, ADEM said the acceptable odds are one in 100,000. In November 2000, Montgomery Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey said that when ADEM
determined the acceptable cancer odds, it was making a rule. She said the decision making process should have been opened up to a public hearing.

In reversing the order, Republican Justice Lyn Stuart wrote that the environmental agency's permit for the incinerator did not constitute the adoption of a rule under Alabama law and a formal period for public notice and comment was not required.

For a detailed look at the chemical weapons incinerator issue, check out the Anniston Star's "The Incinerator Is Ready - Are We?" collection of articles about this controversial issue. Visit the following website: http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2001/as-localnews-1230-0-1l28o5525.htm

4. Sen. Shelby Endorses Nuclear Power - Last week, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby called on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to restart Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Limestone County and to complete construction of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Jackson County.

"In my opinion nuclear energy is safe and the cheapest and best route to take." Shelby said in an address to the Athens Chamber of Commerce. Shelby joins Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rep. Bud Cramer in calling for restarting Unit 1 at Browns Ferry and completing the plant in Jackson County.

5. Coastal Cleanup Numbers - Despite holding their event right after the tragic events on September 11th, the 14th Annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup was once again a huge success.

This year, more than 3000 Alabamians volunteered to cleanup more than 295 miles of Alabama's beaches, shoreline and waterways. A total of 95,000 pounds
of trash was collected in one day. Some of the most unusual items collected included a 200 ice making machine, a 500 pound ball of styrofoam and a Japanese can of soda. The event was coordinated by the Alabama Coastal Foundation, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and People Against a Littered State (PALS).

6. BEN Notes: RPC Seeking Greenway Planner, Scenic Alabama Seeking Executive Director, Wendy Allen Named Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust Director, Alabama Museum of Natural History Programs, Campaign Signs Editorial

RPC Seeking Greenway Planner - The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham is currently considering qualified persons for a Senior Planner position in the area of Greenway, Pedestrian, and Environmental Planning. If you are interested in such a position contact or send your resume to Bill Foisy, director of Transportation Planning at RPC of Greater Birmingham 2112 11th Avenue, South, Suite 220, Birmingham, Alabama 35205 or e-mail bfoisy@brpc-al.org . You can also call him at 205-251-8139.

Scenic Alabama Seeking Executive Director - Interested in running an environmental nonprofit organization? Scenic Alabama is seeking an Executive Director for it's Birmingham office. Resumes should be sent to ALSearch2002@aol.com

Wendy Allen Named Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust Director - The Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust's Board of Directors announced last week the departure of their director Kevin McCauley. Mr. McCauley served as director for three years, helping the Land Trust acquire over 650 acres of land along rivers and streams in Jefferson County.

The board is pleased to announce the promotion of Wendy Allen, to the Executive Director position. Ms. Allen joined the Land Trust six months ago after working eight years with the Nature Conservancy of Alabama.

Alabama Museum of Natural History Programs - The Alabama Museum of Natural History at the University of Alabama will be offering a series of field trips, workshops, presentations and school group activities to complement the photographic exhibit, "River Walk," which opened last week and will end May 5th. To organize school trips or to receive this season's complete schedule, call 205-348-9473.

Campaign Signs Editorial - Check out an editorial written by BEN publisher Pat Byington, attacking the illegal use of campaign signs within the state's public right-of-ways. This editorial was published in the January 20th edition of the Sunday Birmingham News. To read the editorial visit - http://www.BamaNews.com/op-ed/01-20-02.html

7. Websites Featured In BEN #167 -

Alabama Department of Environmental Management
http://www.adem.state.al.us

Anniston Star
http://www.annistonstar.com/news/2001/as-localnews-1230-0-1l28o5525.htm

Bama Environmental News
http://www.BamaNews.com/op-ed/01-20-02.html
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Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If you have any questions or comments about this publication or would like your address to be removed from the BEN e-mail list, contact Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com.