2023 Report and Call to Action

Become a Member

Dear Black Warrior Riverkeeper supporters,

This has been a hectic year at Black Warrior Riverkeeper for a wonderful reason. We have been so productive in our fight for cleaner water that we are publishing positive updates more frequently than ever! Thanks to the support of members (donors and volunteers) like you, we accomplished all this and more in the last 10 months:

~Hired a new outreach coordinator, Katie Holmes, to boost our advocacy, partnerships and volunteer projects.

~Welcomed a new AmeriCorps member, Mary Allen Murray, to assist our cleanups and other service events.

~Received a Birmingham City Council Resolution praising Katie Fagan for our litter reduction partnerships.

~Ran 26 cleanups in which volunteers and partners removed over 25,059 pounds of trash from the watershed.

~Celebrated our staff attorney, Eva Dillard, winning the Alabama Rivers Alliance’s River Hero Award.

~Joined GASP and SELC in suing Bluestone Coke for violating the Clean Water Act on Five Mile Creek.

~Won an appellate decision ensuring we can join a legal action against Uniontown’s Water and Sewer Board.

~Filed a Motion to Intervene with SELC to join a lawsuit over the city of Tuscaloosa’s chronic sewage spills.

~Petitioned the EPA in a legal action to adopt stronger rules controlling pollution from municipal landfills.

~Sued the EPA for failing to limit harmful chemicals at oil refineries, plastics plants and other industries.

~Reached a settlement with Kamtek to address pollution at the auto parts manufacturer’s casting plant.

~Directed Kamtek’s $62,000 SEP payment to the Freshwater Land Trust for Five Mile Creek restoration.

~Recruited thousands of people to send the EPA comments opposing Alabama’s unsafe coal ash storage plan.

~Made 89 educational speeches to business, government, nonprofit, religious and scholastic groups.

~Wrote comment letters to government agencies, requesting improvements to 23 permits and/or water rules.

~Monitored 112 facilities across our 17-county basin on patrols by foot, truck, canoe, boat and drone.

~Reviewed 339 facilities’ Discharge Monitoring Reports to record the number and nature of their violations.

~Collected and analyzed 902 water samples, regularly publishing ambient water quality data on our website.

~Engaged hundreds of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds who donated thousands of service hours.

~Fielded pollution reports, documented problems, and notified government agencies, media and the public.

~Retained our Platinum (top) rating on GuideStar/Candid, the leading source of information on nonprofits.

Please help support our continued success for this river basin by making a donation or signing up for our monthly volunteer email list. Thank you!

For Clean Water in 2024,

Charles Scribner
Executive Director
Black Warrior Riverkeeper
[email protected]
205-458-0095