Sipsey River Mitigation Bank Receives Agency Approval

PICKENS COUNTY, Ala., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Westervelt Ecological Services (WES) has received approval for the Sipsey River Mitigation Bank (SRMB) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). The project is located 20 miles west of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is the first bank approved to provide wetland and stream compensatory mitigation credits within the Sipsey River watershed (Hydrologic Unit Code 03160107). It is WES' fourth compensatory mitigation bank in the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Basin and 12^th mitigation bank in the USACE's Mobile District. The SRMB totals 517 acres and includes over 25,000 linear feet of streams. The USACE approved mitigation credits for 501 acres of enhancement in bottomland hardwood wetlands and 8,800 linear feet of restoration in intermittent streams.

Establishing a high functioning mitigation bank in the watershed is important to protect and restore priority habitats. The site is within an area identified as a strategic habitat unit for protection by our public, private, and NGO partners in conservation. In order to guarantee long-term ecological success and sustainability, mitigation banks, such as the SRMB, require intensive management, monitoring, financial assurances, and legal protections.

The bank is well situated to assist permit applicants pursuing Section 404 permits for development projects in and around the City of Tuscaloosa, and within Marion, Fayette, Lamar, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, and Sumter Counties. Before applicants can use these mitigation credits to offset their unavoidable impacts to streams and wetlands, the permit applicant must follow the mitigation sequence of avoidance, minimization, and then mitigation, as established by the Clean Water Act. Advantages for our clients in the public and private sectors include reduced permitting time and severance of liability.

WES is excited to expand upon our available mitigation credits in Alabama. To learn more about the project or to inquire about mitigation credits, please contact Casey Rigsby at (334) 339-0010 or via email at [email protected].

About Westervelt Ecological Services: Providing conservation on a landscape scale is the mission of Westervelt Ecological Services. A division of The Westervelt Company, a 140-year-old land stewardship company based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Westervelt Ecological Services offers mitigation credits and other enduring ecological solutions for developers and businesses who need to mitigate impacts to wetlands or species across the country. To learn more, visit www.wesmitigation.com.

Contact:
John Wigginton (334) 821-1999 or
[email protected] (Bank Manager)

Casey Rigsby (334) 339-0010
or [email protected] (Credit Sales)

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SOURCE Westervelt Ecological Services