The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today issued a notice of violation and is seeking a $2.9 million fine from the city of Birmingham in Alabama for a 2008 incident in which city workers killed off more than half the population of a small endangered fish.
The fish kill resulted in the deaths of 11,760 watercress darters and injury to 8,900 other darters.
The Service’s action stems from an incident that happened September 19, 2008, when a City maintenance crew removed a beaver dam from the Roebuck Springs pool in Hawkins Park. The crew also breached an underlying earthen dam that formed the spring pool where more than 20,000 of the small endangered fish lived. Breaching the dam quickly drained the spring pool and stranded and killed thousands of watercress darters among a mass of drying aquatic plants. The massive fish kill resulted in the loss of more than half of the largest known population of this species.
The city is also in hot water with the state.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (“ADCNR”) also has a claim against the City for $1,062,786.21 for the death of watercress darters, plus the deaths of more than two million individuals of a protected species of snail. The ADCNR is contemplating a lawsuit against the City to collect that claim.
The watercress darter is only found in spring pools and spring brooks in Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located. FWS said the fish, which is on the brink of extinction, is slowly recovering from the incident but remains highly vulnerable "to pollution from the surrounding city streets, storm sewers, parking lots, golf course, neighborhoods and businesses."
The city removed the dam because of flooding at a tennis court.
The park center's director, Regina Nummy, said she authorized the dam's removal without consulting federal authorities.
She said the pool has flooded the park's tennis courts in the past, causing thousands of dollars of damage. She said it never crossed her mind to consult a U.S. Fish and Wildlife official who contacted her Monday morning.
The fine was calculated by charging the city $200 for each dead fish and $70 for each injured fish.
FWS said in its press release that the city has taken some steps to protect the fish from further harm and restore the habitat, but has yet to take other steps demanded by FWS.