The Interview: Environmentalist Casi Callaway

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Her name and face are recognizable as a protector of Mobile Bay and the environment.

Casi Callaway of Mobile Baykeeper has been a champion for our natural resources since before she headed off to college. Despite years of environmental work, Callaway said the 2010 BP oil spill was a big wake up call.

She recently talked about that crisis, as well as the progress that's being made to educate everyone on why we should care about our environment.

"I love what I do. Pretty much, this is what I've been able to do my whole life, my whole career,” she said.

Callaway laughed and said, “I am blessed, I know that it was a calling."

Casi Callaway is the Executive Director of Mobile Baykeeper. She said her early years on the Gulf Coast fueled her love for the environment. Callaway said she grew up in Mobile, but she spent every summer in Gulf Shores on the beaches.

"My whole youth, I spent on the water, so I had an absolute passion and love for the environment. I think that everybody who lives here in some way shape or form they are connected to the water, they know it, they feel it, they love it,” she said.

She feels that people in Coastal Alabama particularly enjoy that they can provide sustenance from the waterways in the area. Though her love for the environment has been lifelong, her passion for its preservation started in college.

"I got bit by this bug at age 19. At Emory University, I met a group of folks who kind of taught me that the environment isn't something you get to take for granted. I fell in love with the issue, being able to support and protect and promote what is so beautiful. My first job in college was to work on Earth Day 1990," Callaway said.

After graduating with a degree in Philosophy and Ecology from Emory University in Atlanta, Callaway headed to Washington, D.C. She worked in environmental jobs in the nation's capital for eight years. In 1998, her mind returned to the Gulf Coast.

At the same time, some Mobilians' concerns turned to a new sewage treatment facility near Mobile Bay.

"They were afraid of what was going in and they organized, and they fought it. That fight really galvanized the community in a lot of ways, they saw what needed to be addressed and they addressed it," shares Callaway.

Callaway said during that fight, she learned about the county’s dangerous record on chemicals recognized to cause cancer, reproductive and neurological disorders and developmental disorders in children. She said Mobile County was in the top 10 for chemicals released into the environment.

"It was awful, we've made significant headway since then," said Callaway.

Along with the city it is meant to keep, the Mobile Baykeeper organization has gone through its own changes. Originally formed as West Bay Watch, the group later became Mobile Bay Watch.

Under its present name, Callaway says they are prepared to tackle the issues.

"A major responsibility of Mobile Baykeepers is to really teach the connection between the economy and the environment,” she said. “If we don't protect the environment, we impact our economy and vice versa, a decrease in our economic prosperity. They go hand in hand and when we're investing in the environment, that's a huge investment in our economy and our future.”

Another galvanizing issue that the Baykeepers are involved in is the construction of a new section of Highway 98. She said the road crosses Big Creek Lake, the city’s drinking water supply, 13 different times. Ten years and two lawsuits later, that fight is still going strong.

"When we got very heavily mired in it, we had people who actually threatened us publicly, of what they would do to us and our organization if we continued to fight. Frankly, our membership and our community said continue the fight. Its our drinking water supply. That was a hard fight but, it was a good fight," said Callaway.

She said a wakeup call for her was 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill because “it never occurred to [her] that an oil rig in the Gulf could explode. And then not be capped for 87 days.” She was startled by the sheer amount of oil, 200 million gallons, which escaped.

"It would be deemed in that first 6 months to be a $2 billion hit to Alabama's economy, we lost our beach for a summer," Callaway said. "The environment is our economy, not just for coastal Alabama but statewide. Most importantly, if we don't protect it and or restore it, our economy will not be sustainable long term.”

Callaway said she vacationed on an isolated area of the beach near Fort Morgan in July, and she saw some tar balls from the BP oil spill. She said the company promptly responded to a phone call and cleaned it up quickly.

Callaway said we must remember the crisis is not completely over yet and we must not turn a blind eye to it: if you see oil, report it.

Today, Mobile Baykeeper is working with industry; Callaway says dialogue and relationships hopefully will insure everyone is considering what's best for Mobile Bay.

New companies like Airbus, Austal and Thyssen-Krupp will also help sustain the economy. Callaway believes a clean environment is good for the families of industry too.

"I think in every business decision we make for our community, we must include the environment,” she said. ”Also, the biggest thing going ahead for us is making sure we move forward with restoration, we have storm water issues that we have to tackle that are just tremendous.”

Callaway feels it is unacceptable to take the environment for granted. She said it is important to take advantage of the current opportunity “to do significant generational lifetime restoration in coastal Alabama.”

“We should think large, we should think on a giant scale, what can we do for coastal Alabama that will sustain it, and protect it for future generations," Callaway said adamantly.