Black Warrior Riverkeeper Hires Full-time Staff Attorney
John J. Keeling has joined Black Warrior Riverkeeper as our first full-time Staff Attorney, starting March 4. As Staff Attorney, Keeling will work alongside Mark Martin, who will remain on contract as Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s in-house Prosecuting Attorney, the position Martin has filled since 2001. Keeling's duties include researching legal remedies to pollution issues, assisting with review of pollution permits, recruiting and assisting legal volunteers and interns, collaborating with outside attorneys on cases, working on settlements and litigation, and many other tasks.
Keeling will help Black Warrior Riverkeeper continue to enforce the Clean Water Act, while utilizing other statutes, with the goal of protecting water quality, wildlife, recreation, and public health in the Black Warrior River watershed. Since its founding in 2001, Black Warrior Riverkeeper has addressed over 15,500 Clean Water Act violations with legal actions.
Keeling is a native of Gadsden, Alabama where he developed a zeal for the outdoors. This enthusiasm has lead him to camping adventures in over 20 of our national parks, ornithological trips throughout the country, and canoeing explorations down Alabama’s rivers and streams in search of artifacts. Keeling graduated from The University of Alabama in 2002 with a degree in Commerce and Business Administration. He began practicing law in 2006 after graduating from Tulane University Law School.
Before joining Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Keeling spent the last two years practicing law in both state and federal courts while maintaining a successful general law practice in Birmingham. Throughout his schooling and his career, Keeling has consistently demonstrated a commitment to public service by aggressively advocating for parties with few resources.
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Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year, Black Warrior Riverkeeper is an autonomous local chapter of Waterkeeper Alliance. For more information about Black Warrior Riverkeeper or this story, visit www.BlackWarriorRiver.org or contact Nelson Brooke at (205) 458-0095 or nbrooke@blackwarriorriver.org.
