A coal company that is leaking polluted wastewater from a mine in west Alabama reached a legal agreement with an environmental group to fix a dam and protect local waterways in Tuscaloosa County.
On Tuesday the company and the non-profit announced they are proposing a consent decree in federal court. The court has 45 days to approve the decree after a comment period for the U.S. Department of Justice. “It’ll help the local stream and everybody that uses it downstream and it’ll also avoid the potential for a catastrophic failure of their large impoundment’s dam,” said Nelson Brooke with Black Warrior Riverkeeper.The decree also requires the company to create a plan to install a liner to fix a leaky dam that holds millions of gallons of coal slurry. The plan must be approved by the federal Mining Safety and Health Administration.