In the last week John Witt, who owns property in the area of the site of the new Elkmont Elementary School, raised concerns to the Limestone County BOE and the Limestone County Commission regarding environmental compliance.

“Our family property is an example of the negative impact unchecked development can have on private property considering surrounding water quality, fish and wildlife, forestry and agriculture,” Witt told The News Courier.

He describes sediment erosion and other pollutants entering the waterways of Davis Branch Creek since the construction began.

“The water on our property that has been in our family since the 1940s has never looked the way it appears following any significant rain event and when the rain subsides, the sediment remains,” Witt said. “The adjacent field which is leased for farming purposes has also experienced significant damage and revenue loss due heavy equipment operating offsite and the road leading to the back of the field being destroyed without consideration resulting in another entry being constructed out of pocket in order to access the farmed property.”

Witt hopes the BOE will require environmental compliance from its contractors.

“Like everyone in America, we want clean water, a healthy environment for humans, fish and wildlife, forestry and other considerations and hope this can be done through the board of education doing the right thing in requiring the contractors to follow Alabama and federal code and more simply stated, do the right thing,” Witt said.

Following an inspection conducted at the Elkmont Elementary construction site on Dec. 06, 2022, Bailey Harris Construction Company received a notice of violation from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The notice references violations of the 2006 Alabama Water Pollution Control Act.

The following discrepancies were noted:

• Appropriate, effective Best Management Practices for the control of pollutants in stormwater run-off have not been fully implemented and regularly maintained to the maximum extent practicable resulting in the potential for uncontrolled discharges of sediment, turbidity and other pollutants to a water of the State of Alabama.
• Accumulation of sediment was observed offsite and/or in State waters downgradient/downstream of stormwater discharge outlets at the facility.
• Stormwater discharges from the Facility were causing substantial visible contrast in instream turbidity downstream of the Facility, causing a violation of State Water Quality Standards for turbidity.
• The facility identification was not displayed. Precipitation measurement device was not observed.
• Precipitation measurement device was not observed.

In response to the Notice of Violation ADEM issued, Bailey Harris Construction contacted GEO Solutions and made the following corrections to the site:

• The installation of a riprap outlet protection at the southern and northwestern storm sewer outlets.
• The installation of hay bales onsite to collect sediment.
• The installation of coir baffles in the detention area.
• The installation of straw matting on slopes to prevent erosion.
• The posting of a permit number onsite.
• The installation of a new rain gauge on site.
• The repair of a silt fence on the southwestern portion of the site when work resumes.
• The monitoring and continuous maintenance of outfalls to prevent any further discharge of sediment.

Superintendent Dr. Randy Shearouse issued the following statement to The News Courier regarding the violation:

“The construction site and building plans went through a thorough review for approval before any land disturbance occurred.

Once the contract was awarded to Bailey Harris, they were responsible for obtaining the necessary permits and for following the required guidelines.

Bailey Harris has gone above and beyond to make sure the site is in compliance and will continue to be in compliance. Limestone County staff met with ADEM and Bailey Harris recently and due to the diligence of Bailey Harris, the site was in compliance. I anticipate the site continuing to improve even more as the construction project continues to progress.

School system employees work closely with the architect and contractor to make sure progress on the project is being made. Steve Wallace, our Director of Maintenance regularly participates in progress meetings about the project and site visits with architects from Chapman Sisson.

Bailey Harris has assured the school system of their willingness to go above and beyond to make sure they are in compliance. The school system is and will continue to be good neighbors to surrounding areas.

The new Elkmont Elementary will be great for Elkmont and will provide our students with a superior facility. We appreciate the great site AERDA granted the school system and will continue working very closely with them as the school is surrounded by AERDA property.”

According to Witt, “Best Management Practices are installed and look fine in good weather, but do not hold up when they are supposed to during and after significant rain or storm event. Sediment and other materials, potentially chemicals and otherwise, run off into the surrounding waterways.”

Witt says, “the site has had a negative impact on wildlife patterns, ecology, healthy temperatures conducive to all life in the waterways as aquatic life is not present where I remember seeing prior to construction and the decreased quality will likely have a negative effect on our livestock.”

At the Limestone County BOE meeting on Feb. 14, Witt recommended the following actions be taken:

• Partner with the Elk River — Sulphur Creek watershed protection plan in community outreach, education, funding, and needed implementation in order to maintain required water quality standards, erosion prevention, sediment controls, and prevent damage to agriculture, forestry, fish and wildlife.
• Require onsite revisions with the architects, engineerings, and contractors per terms of the contract to potentially include one or some of the preventative measures to address storm water runoff, sediment deposits, excessive erosion and negative effects.
• Require contractor to periodically report to the BOE either in order to ensure required progress is made and compliance with federal and state code is met.
• Insist contractors reach and maintain compliance with BMP as required by ADEM.

On Tuesday, Witt made the following recommendations to the Limestone County Commission.

• Request bi-monthly updates concerning compliance and progress.
• Provide assistance in terms of equipment and fuel to initiate mitigation measures concerning the property that is leased by AERDA to LCS.
• Partner with the Elk River — Sulphur Creek watershed plan, including long-term monitoring of pollution and mitigation measures with state and federal partners.
• Funding opportunities for pollution mitigation and clean water assurance.

The Commission did not comment on Witt’s concerns during the meeting.

The News Courier requested a statement from Bailey Harris Construction but did not receive one by press time.

Witt asks, “what good is a new school or any other new construction or so called progress and growth when the process and/or finished products pollute the very things we depend on as a species for survival and existence?”