Citizen Suit Action/Clean Water Act: Black Warrior Riverkeeper Judicial Action Addressing Alabama Red Rock Mining/Iron Ore Reclamation Facility
October 30, 2025
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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Black Warrior Riverkeeper (“BWR”) filed on October 16th in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama a Clean Water Act citizen suit action against PB Services, LLC (“PB”). See Case No. 2:25-cv-01788-NAD.
The BWR Complaint states that PB operates red rock mining and iron ore waste reclamation in Adamsville, Alabama.
The PB facility is also stated to conduct dry processing of the materials it mines and reclaims.
The Complaint alleges that the PB facility has violated certain effluent limitations in its Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit, and committed other violations.
The facility is stated to discharge treated process wastewater to the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. Surface water is stated to discharge from the facility to Tributary 1 and the Locust Fork.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is stated to have modified and reissued an NPDES Permit to the facility on March 30, 2018.
Violations of the NPDES Permit alleged in the Complaint include:
- Violations of NPDES Permit effluent limits.
- Thallium.
- Selenium.
- Cadmium.
- Toxicity.
- Total Suspended Solids.
- Manganese.
- Failure to sample as required by the NPDES Permit.
- Unpermitted discharge violations.
A copy of the Complaint can be downloaded here.
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