Rampant sewage overflows in Tuscaloosa harm Black community, groups say

Environmental groups Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Hurricane Creek and the Southern Environmental Law Center say Tuscaloosa’s rampant sewage overflows are disproportionately affecting the city’s Black and low-income neighborhoods.

The groups filed a notice of intent to sue the city in July, citing nearly 42 million gallons of sewage spills and hundreds of permit violations the city self-reported between 2017 and 2023.

The groups said the city’s own reports showed more than 350 illegal sewage overflows and more than 1,000 violations of wastewater discharge permits.

The city of Tuscaloosa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The groups said Monday that a map of reported violations compiled by the Southern Environmental Law Center showed “a disproportionate number of chronic sewage overflows in predominantly Black neighborhoods.”

“Tuscaloosa has had sewage spills for more than two decades, and we have been encouraging Tuscaloosa to clean up its act and properly notify the community,” Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke said in a release explain. “For years, the city has allowed raw sewage and industrial wastewater to pollute local streams and rivers, which is unacceptable and has disproportionately impacted Tuscaloosa’s Black and low-income communities.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, untreated or partially treated sewage can contain bacteria, viruses, parasites, molds and fungi. People exposed to raw sewage face health hazards ranging from mild gastroenteritis, which causes stomach cramps and diarrhea, to life-threatening illnesses such as cholera, dysentery, infectious hepatitis, and severe gastroenteritis.

In addition to affecting minority communities, more than half of Tuscaloosa’s sewage spills occur during dry weather, suggesting the city’s system is failing, the groups said. They said they have tried multiple times to meet with city officials to discuss the overflow issue, but the city has not responded.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper said water samples it collected showed chloride, aluminum, barium, manganese, iron and sodium. During a visit to the sewer system site, Hurricane Creekkeeper discovered that the sewer station was in disrepair, including metal corrosion from an apparent hydrogen sulfide leak.

“Families who take their children to play and swim at Hurricane Creek Park have no idea they are exposing their children to raw sewage,” Hurricane Creek Administrator John Wathen said.

Alabama takes over control of prosecuting violations

Under the Clean Water Act, individual citizens or groups such as Riverkeepers can sue for violations but must submit a formal notice of intent to sue at least 60 days in advance.

The state has 60 days to intervene. State regulators such as the Alabama Department of Environmental Management can intervene within 60 days and take over prosecution of alleged violations. In this case, the proceedings would not proceed.

ADEM and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against the City of Tuscaloosa in September 2019. On the 22nd, environmental protection organizations were deprived of the right to file separate lawsuits. The groups on Monday asked the court to grant intervenor status in the state’s lawsuit to ensure their members’ concerns are represented in legal proceedings.

“This is not the first time Tuscaloosa has been sued over a sewage overflow,” said SELC senior attorney Sarah Stokes. “Our clients hope to join the state’s case and convince Tuscaloosa to provide a meaningful and permanent solution this time.”

The lawsuit filed by the state accuses the city of multiple violations of its operating permit, including sewer overflows, failure to file required notice of violation reports on time, and discharging water in excess of its permitted pH, E. coli, ammonia nitrogen and total suspended solids .

The state is asking the court to order the city to take action to stop the overflow and allow the violations, and to impose fines on the city for allowing the violations to occur.