1) Supreme Court Rules Against the State of Alabama in Clean Air Case
2) Environmental Legal Actions Abound
3) Environmental Education in Alabama: Why it Works
4) 120,000 Pounds of Household Hazardous Waste Collected in 4 Hours
5) BEN Notes: In Memory of Tom McGehee, The Turning Point Roadshow, Alabama Ornithological Society's "A Birder's Guide to Alabama" Special Offer, Alabama Environmental Council's Annual Meeting

1. Supreme Court Rules Against the State of Alabama in Clean Air Case - According to the March 6th edition of the New York Times, without comment, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge to new federal rules that will require sharp reductions in the emission of ozone-creating chemicals from power plants. The electric power industry and seven states (including the state of Alabama) had brought the suit. The action cleared the way for enforcement of rules as scheduled in 2004. Last month, the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management's (ADEM) governing board, passed new stricter rules in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court's denial of review in Appalachian Power Company v. Environmental Protection Agency, N. 00-445, and related clean air cases upholding the EPA's authority to set new national standards for smog and soot, provided the second victory in a two week span for the EPA and environmental groups.

The case, which the state of Alabama joined, dealt with the EPA's plan for enforcing the ozone standard by requiring the "upwind" states that are exporters of air pollution to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides, important contributors to the smog that reaches the Northeast. Power companies and the states - Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama,
challenged the method the agency used to compute each state's "budget" for nitrogen oxide. The rules were upheld last year by a federal court in Washington, D.C.

ADEM expects a 55% to 65% reduction of nitrogen oxide from power plants, once the new regulation is fully implemented by 2004.

2. Environmental Legal Actions Abound - Over the past month, there have been several high profiled legal actions taken by Alabama environmental groups. The cases range from protecting a small endangered darter in Jefferson County to preventing pollution in the Cahaba River. The following is a listing of legal actions that have occurred in February and March.

TVA Power Plant - The National Park and Conservation Association and the Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit in February charging that the Tennessee Valley Authority made major changes at its Colbert County power plant to increase emissions without bringing pollution controls up to required standards. The suit seeks civil penalties from TVA and work needed to bring the plant into compliance with state and federal rules. TVA claims to have not violated the Clean Air Act and has not illegally modified its plant.

Bart Slawson, the lawyer for the two environmental groups responded to TVA's claim that maintenance and repairs have been routine, by stating in the February 16th Birmingham News, "It's like doing routine maintenance on a Cadillac and it turns out to be ocean liner."

Chemical Weapons Incinerator - The Coosa River Basin Initiative, a Georgia-based watershed group, sued the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for not following Alabama's Administrative Procedure Act when it determined the acceptable odds of contacting cancer from toxic emissions for the chemical weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey agreed that ADEM should have held a public hearing on the issue, then encouraged ADEM and the other defendants to appeal her ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court. Such a step would bypass the state Court of Civil Appeals. Lawyers on both sides want the appeal expedited, according to the Birmingham News.

Vermilion Darter - On behalf of the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and Wild Alabama, WildLaw has filed a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) against Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for unlawfully delaying a final decision to list the Vermilion Darter as an endangered species. The Darter exists in only one
seven mile segment of Turkey Creek in Jefferson County, and that habitat is heavily impacted by development, sedimentation and discharges from a nearby waste water treatment plant. On November 17, 2000, the USFWS decided to stop all work (a moratorium) on listing species under ESA. As a result of a 60 day with intent to sue notice sent by WildLaw, the Clinton Administration "found" funds to complete the listing. Once the new Bush Administration came into office, Secretary Norton once again pulled the Darter's listing proposal. For additional information about this case visit: http://www.wildlaw.org/news.html#030901b

Gold Kist - The Cahaba River Society and the Alabama Environmental Council have a filed notice with intent to sue against Gold Kist, a chicken processing plant near Trussville, Alabama. The groups alleged Gold Kist had committed 324 violations of the Clean Water Act. In a statement by Mary Maclean Asbill, a lawyer for the Southern Environmental Law Center, who is representing the Cahaba RIver Society - "the group feels that Gold Kist is a major contributor to the nutrient problem in the Cahaba. It became clear this summer with algae blooms and nutrient problems on the river."

3. Environmental Education in Alabama: Why it Works - Does environmental education work? The following story is a remarkable example of environmental education in action. It is an e-mail written by Francine Hutchinson, who was a teacher at Ranburne High School in Cleburne County, Alabama and is now coordinator of the Little River Canyon Field School at Jacksonville State University. The e-mail was written to BEN publisher Pat Byington after he asked Francine to describe what happened at Ranburne.

How Our Rural Students Nearly Aced the Alabama Graduation Exam

I worked closely with fellow science teacher Julie Price; we both felt strongly about enviro ed and made it the centerpiece of our curriculum. We "shared' the tenth grade biology class that did so well on the science portion of the grad exam. Julie had 28 honors-biology students and I had 11 to 12 vocational or "standard" students. They took the exam during the spring block of their sophomore year. The standard students took Biology 10 during the fall block and the advanced students took Biology 10 during the spring block. All the Advanced students passed the grad exam, and 11 of my 12 standard students passed. The one student who did not pass came to Ranburne in the last half of our Biology 10 block; this student was the only one of our 40 total Biology students who failed the coursework. Together, 98% of our students passed the grad exam, which was the highest percentage for public schools in the state, Mountain Brook included!

Julie Price and I stressed respect for nature and each other. Interestingly, Julie is strongly religious but she has serious enviro-ethics that are fostered by her beliefs, as you and I do. We were continually swapping labs, teaching methods, animals, supplies etc. ; our partnership was as much a part of our students' success as anything.

A couple of notes about Ranburne High School and the Biology class.

Demographics - mostly poor white, rural: the high school has about 350 students and elementary school has about 400

Some of the Educational tools - Environmental education centerpiece, emphasized whole ecosystem, lots of hands on experiments, animals in the classroom along with plants, posters models displays; tree measurements, rain pH, water testing (some Alabama Water Watch training), a wildlife garden, native plants ed., soils, ethnobotany, weather, recycling and much more!

To learn more about this incredible Alabama environmental education success story, contact Francine Hutchinson at 256-782-5681.

4. 120,000 Pounds of Household Hazardous Waste Collected in 4 Hours - Last fall, the Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF) organized the 5th Annual Hazardous Waste Collection Day in Mobile County. In four short hours, concerned citizens of Mobile County brought in 1500 gallons of used oil, 300 oil filters, 344 car batteries, 500 gallons of antifreeze, 46,300 pounds of paint, 28,650 pounds of other hazardous wastes and 75 cubic yards of non-hazardous wastes. All total 120,000 pounds of household hazardous waste!

Consider this. There are no household hazardous waste ( hhw) programs in Birmingham, the state's largest metro area. The state of Alabama does not have a comprehensive household hazardous waste program. There are only a "handful" of hhw programs in operation around the state. The collection day that was held in Mobile is proof that Alabama desperately needs a state wide
household hazardous waste program. For more information about ACF's successful program, contact them at 334-626-0042 or amy.peper@noaa.gov

5. BEN Notes: In Memory of Tom McGehee, The Turning Point Roadshow, Alabama Ornithological Society's "A Birder's Guide to Alabama" Special Offer, Alabama Environmental Council's Annual Meeting

In Memory of Tom McGehee - On the February 17th, Sierra Club/Alabama Trails Association Pinhoti Trail Construction trip, Dr. Tom McGehee collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack. According to the North Alabama Group of the Sierra Club newsletter, with Tom were Sam Denham, Rick Riquelmy and Lee McPheeters from Huntsville and eight Alabama Trails Association volunteers. They were just a few hundred yards inside the Alabama State line in Cherokee County near where the Pinhoti will cross into Georgia to join the Appalachian Trail. A Sierra Club member for at least 12 years and ExCom political chair for the past three years, Tom died while doing what he loved: hiking. The Sierra Club and the Alabama Trail Association will erect a small monument to Tom's memory on the Pinhoti trail near the spot where he died.

The Turning Point Roadshow - The Sierra Club will be bringing The Turning Point Roadshow to Birmingham on March 13th and 14th. The 2 hour multi-media presentation consists of acoustic music, a slide show, and a script that is informative and entertaining. The subject of the show is globalization. For more information about The Turning Point Roadshow contact Jennifer Taylor at: 205-592-2117.

Alabama Ornithological Society's "A Birder's Guide to Alabama" Special Offer - "The" long awaited bird-finding guide to Alabama will be available in mid-March. "A Birder's Guide to Alabama" written by members of the Alabama Ornithological Society (AOS), provides invaluable information about the best places to find birds everywhere from Dauphin Island to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. The 368 page book, contains 75 illustrations, 50 maps and helpful bar charts describing the frequency and distribution for all the bird species recognized for Alabama. Through June 1st the AOS is offering "A Birder's Guide to Alabama" at a special pre-publication price of $20.To order visit the AOS website at http://www.bham.net/aos/

Alabama Environmental Council's Annual Meeting - Be sure to join the Alabama Environmental Council (AEC) at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham for their 31st Annual Meeting. This year's theme is "Healthy Environment, Healthy People - The Environment and Public Health." Speakers include State Senator Charles Steele of Tuscaloosa with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and State Senator Gary Grant of North Carolina, a leader in organizing communities against the hog industry in Carolina. The meeting is slated for Saturday, March 24th, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30. For more information about the meeting contact the AEC at 205-322-3126.

Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If you have any questions or comments about this publication, contact Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com To receive back issues of BEN, please go to our website at: http://www.BamaNews.com