2025 Report and Call to Action

Dear Black Warrior Riverkeeper supporters,

Facing so many issues, locally and globally, one can feel overwhelmed when considering ways to help others. At Black Warrior Riverkeeper, we have decided to focus on something that everyone needs – clean water – across this vital area within America’s #1 state for freshwater biodiversity. Propelled by the support of our members like you, we have accomplished the following this year through November 1:

~Received the UAB School of Public Health’s 2025 Lou Wooster Public Health Hero Award.

~Celebrated our executive director, Charles Scribner, on his 20th year as a member of our staff.

~Filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against PB Services, LLC for polluting the Black Warrior’s Locust Fork.

~Maintained our efforts with Friends of Hurricane Creek and SELC to fix Tuscaloosa’s chronic sewage spills.

~Continued our litigation with GASP and SELC against Bluestone Coke for polluting Five Mile Creek.

~Won a statewide victory with 6 partners, updating toxic pollutant values to protect Alabamians’ health.

~Won a national victory with 12 partners, requiring EPA to reconsider outdated industrial pollution standards.

~Restored habitat for Endangered watercress darters and new Birmingham darters with Freshwater Land Trust.

~Passed the milestone of 125,000 pounds of litter removed by our Volunteer Cleanups Program since 2021.

~Hosted 30 cleanups in which we and our partners removed over 23,237 pounds of trash from the watershed.

~Made 141 educational speeches to business, government, nonprofit, religious and scholastic groups.

~Wrote comment letters to government agencies, requesting improvements to 16 permits and/or water rules.

~Monitored 89 facilities across our 17-county basin on patrols by foot, truck, canoe, boat, and drone.

~Reviewed 844 facilities’ Discharge Monitoring Reports to record the number and nature of their violations.

~Collected and analyzed 825 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.

~Retained our Platinum (top) rating on Candid/GuideStar, 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 2026,

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

Black Warrior Riverkeeper won the UAB School of Public Health’s 2025 Lou Wooster Public Health Hero Award.