Replies to post #27764 on Nymet Holdings Inc. (fka NYMH)

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BS, quixo:

Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Alabama Biodiesel settle lawsuit
By Bryan Sims

Web exclusive posted June 9, 2008 at 9:54 a.m. CST

Black Warrior Riverkeeper has reached a settlement with Alabama Biodiesel in a lawsuit Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed in a United States District Court in August 2007. A federal judge approved the settlement requiring Alabama Biodiesel to cease illegal discharges of oil and grease, obtain a pollution permit mandated by the Clean Water Act and pay $27,500 for a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) in the Black Warrior River watershed.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper filed the lawsuit in response to Alabama Biodiesel’s unpermitted oil discharges into an unnamed tributary of Carthage Branch, a tributary of the Black Warrior River immediately upstream of the Moundville public boat launch and Moundville Archeological Park where thousands of Alabamians and researchers visit the river each year.

The lawsuit also claimed that Alabama Biodiesel violated the Clean Water Act on 20 different occasions between June 2006 and August 2007 by discharging oily pollutants from its 10 MMgy soy oil-based production plant in Moundville, Ala.

According to Alabama Biodiesel vice president Richard Campo, the plant did not stop operating during the lawsuit. In addition, he insists that the company did not voluntarily or willingly violate permitting regulations. Rather, the reason the oily residue found its way in water bodies was attributed to an unfortunate mechanical error inside the plant.


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“The basis of everything was that a heat exchanger broke one time and there was a leak in a non-contained area of the plant,” Campo said. “We understand where they’re coming from. We don’t have any hard feelings. We’re ready to put this behind us and move forward.”

The settlement will help restore Jefferson County’s Tapawingo/Penny Springs, habitat of the federally endangered Vermilion and Watercress Darters and a pristine tributary of Turkey Creek, which is a major tributary of the Black Warrior River’s Locust Fork.

“We’re very pleased [Alabama Biodiesel] is going to get the proper clean water permit for their facility,” said Nelson Brooke, executive director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper. “The hope is that everything will move out smoothly and they’ll produce a quality renewable fuel and protect the environment and local community in the meantime.”