At the end of February, the Alabama operations of National Cement Co. sold approximately 122 acres of land to the Coosa Valley Water Supply District, Inc., a non-profit corporation in the state.

The land, located on Highway 144 between Pell City and Ragland, was sold for $245,000. The site contains an old quarry, and National Cement is donating the mineral rights of the land, which are estimated to be worth about $1.1 million, says Spencer Weitman, president of the company's Southwest Division.

A water treatment plant will be built on the property that will serve the areas of Odenville, Pell City, Lincoln, and Springville, said a St. Clair County representative. National Cement will use all proceeds from the sale to provide seed funding for Blue Springs Nature Park, located on land near Ragland that the company plans to donate. The initiative to create the park took shape when National Cement donated 147 acres to serve in perpetuity as a public nature park — one of only two such privately supported preserves in Alabama — and an educational resource for school systems in Ragland, St. Clair County, and other surrounding counties.