State's top polluters cited

Watchdog group's report: Worst violators include Army Depot, Sloss

03/24/04

A "dirty dozen" of Alabama's companies have operated in violation of pollution laws every quarter for the past two years, Alabama Environmental Council officials said Tuesday.

"You can go ahead and pollute in Alabama," said Bart Slawson, attorney for the Birmingham-based environmental watchdog group. "It's morally OK to break the law."

The report cites the Anniston Army Depot as the worst polluter in the state, saying it has violated environmental laws by refusing to get necessary permits and illegally polluting the water and air.

According to the Environmental Council, the violations are "so egregious" that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the Army's behavior at the facility where it builds and repairs tanks and other equipment.

"We took action until the point until we couldn't, and then we referred it to the EPA," said Scott Hughes a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The EPA is in early stages of gathering information on the case, said spokesman Carl Terry.

When issued notices of violation, the Army responded to ADEM by saying it had "sovereign immunity" from enforcement, the council wrote. The Army explained its failure to get permits and to follow hazardous air pollution laws by saying it had a brain drain when the facility's best scientists moved to the chemical weapons incinerator that opened last summer, Slawson said.

"All the smart engineers went to the nerve gas incinerator, which is exactly what their letter said to ADEM," he said.

An Army spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Hughes said the state has taken action against every polluter on the list except one that is in bankruptcy and those that are being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In fact, the No. 2 polluter on the list netted ADEM's largest fine on record. Sloss Industries, a coke plant in Tarrant, agreed to a $675,000 fine plus a land donation after years of water violations. Sloss officials had acknowledged that they were incapable of meeting water quality requirements at their Five Mile Creek plant, and they persuaded legislators to reverse the rules when state environmental officials tried to upgrade standards on the creek.

"Sloss acknowledges the past, and they've worked real hard to get better," said John McNeilly, a spokesman for parent company Walter Industries. "They feel they are considerably and significantly better than they were a year ago, and they're committed to keeping that course going."

Chronic violators:

The third through ninth "dirtiest" plants in the state all were chosen by the Alabama Environmental Council because EPA has flagged them as chronic violators in a dispute between the companies and the federal government.

The Department of Justice sued the Tennessee Valley Authority and Alabama Power Co., claiming they did not legally upgrade pollution controls on their plants over the years. The suits, which have been going on since the Clinton Administration, concern alterations that were made, in some cases, decades before anyone flagged them as illegal.

"EPA has put in their compliance database an allegation that we are violating the Clean Air Act," said Willard Bowers, vice president for environmental affairs for Alabama Power. "Unfortunately, EPA does not have to abide by the standards that we're innocent until proven guilty."

A TVA official said the alleged violations cited against his company are in the courts, where judges have sided with TVA or outcomes are still pending. They include both the Justice Department suit and suits over sooty emissions.

"We neither agree that we're lawbreakers nor that we're among the dirty dozen," said John Shipp, vice president for environmental policy and planning.

The city of Prichard was cited as a chronic sewage violator. And Lawter International/Eastman Resins, a now-bankrupt Moundville company, was on the list for violations of the Clean Water Act with hazardous and other materials. Neither responded to requests for comment.

Atofina Chemicals, at No. 11, had a series of problems emitting butane and particulates. "We strive to operate our company in a responsible manner, and we consider environmental protection a priority," said Atofina spokesman Lewis Buchanan. "We are in the process of addressing the particulate issue with ADEM to prevent reoccurrence."

Slawson said the group released the list to try to shame polluting companies. "We would like to create a stigma for people who pollute," he said.