For the second time in five years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted a permit authorizing construction of a proposed Duck River Dam and reservoir in Cullman County.

Col. Peter F. Taylor Jr., the Corps’ Mobile District commander, signed the official notification letter addressed to the Cullman-Morgan Water District.

“This is welcomed news that has been a long time coming,” said Cullman Mayor Don Green. “We were confident the permit would be granted, but it’s good to actually receive the official authorization.”

Green said the awarding of the permit also indicates the things the city, utilities board and water district have been doing over the past several years were the correct things.

“We felt we did all the right things to comply with the judge’s order and the project has already made the area involved a better place environmentally,” Green said. “And while some may disagree, we are very concerned about the environment and specifically the preservation of Duck River and its tributaries.”

Awarding of the permit marks the second time the Duck River Dam project has received Corps of Engineers approval. The last time was in 2000 when the issuance of a construction permit sparked controversy that resulted in the filing of a lawsuit that was joined by a number of environmental groups including the American Canoe Association, Alabama Rivers Alliance, Friends of the Mulberry Fork and Wild Alabama.

Those groups disagreed with the Corps’ initial finding of no significant impact and permitting of the project. As a result of that lawsuit, the project was put on hold for close to three years while the matter was in litigation.

Federal District Judge Karon Bowdre vacated the permit for the project in August 2003, ruling the Corps of Engineers didn’t take “a hard look at the cumulative effects of other proposed projects in the Black Warrior River Basin, the future water quality of the proposed reservoir and the effect the proposed dam will have on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River.”

The Corps later issued a report that addressed concerns raised by the federal court when the permit was voided. But river advocates argue the supplement to the previous Environmental Assessment is inadequate.

The Cullman Utilities Board, with the assistance of consultants with CH2MHill, a Birmingham company, spent close to a year and a half revising the environmental assessment report to address the judge’s concerns.

Some of the study’s findings include:

‰ The Duck River project wouldn’t create any major cumulative impact, if it was part of a proposed Birmingham Water Works project.

‰ The Mulberry Fork wouldn’t experience a negative effect. The river would experience more even flow.

‰ Pollutants that are in the reservoir can be reduced.

Whether there will be further legal challenges to the reservoir project now that the final permit has been granted is something beyond the Cullman-Morgan Water District’s and Cullman Utilities Board’s control, said Dale Greer, project manager.