Black Warrior Riverkeeper Settles Permit Appeal Over Brookwood Mine

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, AL — Black Warrior Riverkeeper this week announced it has reached a settlement in its appeal of a pollution discharge permit issued for a coal mine in Brookwood, securing new limits on pollutants entering a tributary of the Black Warrior River.

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The environmental advocacy group says that it settled its challenge to a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for the Swann's Crossing Mine.

The mine is operated by Southland Resources.

The dispute centered on discharges into tributaries of Daniel Creek, which flows into the Black Warrior River and is listed by the state as impaired for total dissolved solids, or TDS.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper said ADEM initially issued a permit for the mine in March 2024 that included a water quality-based effluent limit for TDS after determining the mine's discharges had the potential to contribute to violations of water quality standards in Daniel Creek.

The advocacy group went on to say Southland later determined it could not meet the TDS limit.

ADEM subsequently proposed removing the restriction and later issued a revised permit in July 2025 that eliminated some, but not all, TDS discharges to Daniel Creek.

However, the permit did not impose a TDS limit on the remaining discharges, prompting the environmental group to file an appeal.

Rather than pursue the matter through a hearing before the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, the parties negotiated a settlement that restores a water quality-based TDS limit for the mine's remaining discharges into Daniel Creek.

As part of the agreement, Southland also agreed to reclaim portions of the mine and eliminate certain outfalls that previously discharged into the creek.

Southland will submit a permit modification application reflecting the settlement and ADEM will issue a revised permit.

"Specific, measurable, enforceable limits on the pollutants that enter our waterways are perhaps the greatest tool created by the Clean Water Act for reducing pollution, repairing water quality, and ensuring that our rivers and streams are clean for future generations," said John Kinney, staff scientist for Black Warrior Riverkeeper. "This settlement will ensure that Daniel Creek retains that protection."

Eva Dillard, staff attorney for the organization, said the agreement was reached through cooperation among the parties.

"From the appeal's inception, Southland was willing to work with us and ADEM on a compromise permit that would be protective of Daniel Creek," Dillard said. "Given the extensive impacts to Daniel Creek from past coal mining, we are pleased we were able to reach an agreement that will curb further TDS pollution."

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