Friday, February 2, 2024

SIGN THE PETITION

SIGN THE PETITION


Please read this article and consider adding your name to our petition demanding action to deter and or eliminate most of the chronic sewage overflows within the entire Tuscaloosa sewer collection system and the Fletcher treatment plant. 

Many people living in Tuscaloosa for any length of time have heard the Friends of Hurricane Creek complain and point out the failures seen in the collection system throughout the Hurricane Creek watershed. Black Warrior Riverkeeper has been doing the same about the systemic failures throughout the rest of the city. 

It is not something new. I have documented many of these problems since 2004. I can say that there have been significant improvements since then in some areas due to our complaints while others still exist and have for many years. Cottondale Creek has been hammered with so many overflows and elevated bacteria levels that EPA stepped in and issued an order requiring an 89% reduction in pathogens and still the city is losing hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage. 

 EPA stepped in and ordered a Total Maximum Daily Load Assessment (TMDL) for the entire Cottondale Creek drainage to evaluate whether sewage pollutants should be limited in the creek to restore water quality. The TMDL issued by ADEM in August 2022 calls for a 89% reduction for pathogens in Cottondale Creek. Since the TMDL was issued the city sewer department has discharged over 250,000gallons of raw sewage into Cottondale Creek and still counting. This must stop!

One of the fall-back excuses the city likes to use is "It rained a a lot so our sewer overflowed" (paraphrase). This will work on a lot of people but what they should be aware of is this. Tuscaloosa operates a closed system. It is independent from the stormwater drainages. Therefore if enough rainwater enters the system there are some real problems with the collection system itself. Many things can affect it but I feel like most of it is negligent lack of maintenance or deferred maintenance.

Take a look at a few of the Right of Way (ROW) photos I have taken over time. I consistently find open, damaged manhole covers and exposed sections of sewer lines, in some cases right in the floodway of the creek. Lift stations are consistently left open to rain and storm events. Many of the manholes are built lower than normal water flow during rain events. Large holes in riser pipes buried underground also allow storm water intrusion. 











It's easy to see where the intrusion is occurring and equally as easy it should be for a well operating sewer department to address BEFORE disasters strike. I often see mature trees growing over manholes and congested ROWs which make reaching overflows much more difficult.

There is something we can all do. 
Please sign the linked petition demanding City leaders to take necessary steps to remedy these historic failures. 


If you want to know more about what actually happens at the sewer department, don't take their word for it. In fact you don't have to take my word for it. Go to the ADEM E-File site and look at the record for yourself. Every citizen in the state has the right to view the records. It is mandated by law that Tuscaloosa must send timely reports. Check out the video above and learn how to get access. Remember to type the permit # in exactly as it is written here. 
AL0022713







Saturday, January 6, 2024

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

 MARK YOUR CALENDAR

FOR THE FRIENDS OF HURRICANE CREEK

ANNUAL GATHERING AND POT-LUCK DINNER



WHEN?  JANUARY 23 2024, 6:00 PM

WHERE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH (FELLOWSHIP HALL)

627PAUL BRYANT DRIVE

TUSCALOOSA.

WHAT? FUN, GOOD FELLOWSHIP, AND GOOD FOOD! 

WHY? BECAUSE WE NEED YOU TO BE A PART OF THE HURRICANE CREEK RESTORATION.


For years, the Friends of Hurricane Creek have championed the recovery and restoration of this wonderful treasure we have within a bicycle ride of such a large and research driven university as the University of Alabama. Students have been here as volunteers by the hundreds over the years to help in cleanups and disaster recovery. 



After decades of advocacy and enforcement action we now see a tremendous improvement in both water quality but the native species of fish, amphibians, birds and all sorts of new life. It is now time to switch gears a little and begin actively working on the restoration of the creek. We will be building new bridges to the University clubs and science department to truly begin exploring the unknown treasures that lie within our watershed. 

I'd like to reach out and invite UofA groups and clubs and anyone interested in seeing being a part the real recovery here.

Please consider attending and sign up for a membership at the dinner. It is FoHC membership renewal time for those who have already signed up. 


I will present a slide show of the creek to show what we see as possible future projects in restoration. I promise to keep it short and not full of pollution issues this time. Hope to see a a lot of folks there.







Just One of Those Things or Negligence?

Just One of Those Things or Negligence?

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

YOU MAY BE SWIMMING IN SEWAGE

 YOU MAY BE SWIMMING IN SEWAGE!

Hwy 216 PARA swimming area 08/27/23

That's right, You may be swimming in sewage. If you were at the PARA park on Hwy 216 this weekend and got in the water you were definitely swimming is sewage contaminated water. 

Cottondale Creek after sewer 
On Friday, Aug 25, 2023 at 5:26 PM. I got a message from the city of Tuscaloosa stating that there had been an 18,000 gallon sewer overflow in Cottondale Creek at an area known for being problematic. I visited the site at the first available opportunity which was Sat. morning. Cottondale Creek was flowing dark gray and filled the air with the stench of sewage.





The sample results came back TNTC (Too numerous to count) It was literally too full of bacteria for the number to be counted. The Petri dish was nearly covered in blue.  When I took samples for testing I could see floating sewage debris in the water and on top. 






I also visited The public use area at the PARA park on Hwy 216. There were already people in the water even though there was one single site at the top of the hill. I informed them of the problem upstream and found out they had not seen the sign. Not surprising since there was only one sign posted between 2 more larger signs and only on one trail to the water. When Jarrod Milligan, past Tuscaloosa sewer head,  first promised a robust notification program, the notices were to be bilingual, English / hispanic.


This group of Hispanic people were looking at the sign with no clue as to what it all meant. I asked them and found that only about 1 in 10 of the Hispanic people out there could read English.







As the day progressed I could not keep coming back to warn people. By the time I returned the afternoon of 08/27/23 I counted nearly 80 people in the water! Some must have seen the signs and ignored them,  others could not read them and still others did not see the lone sign, hidden amongst the bushes. 

This is where Cottondale Creek enters Hurricane Creek, less than 1/2 mile from the public use area. You can clearly see the greenish / gray water entering from Cottondale Creek coming into Hurricane Creek. Since there was NO rain previously, It stands to reason this is all contaminated water. The sample results confirm that as well. 

At least 80 people in harms way of 18,000 gallons of sewage

Immediately downstream, there were at least 80 people in harms way! That is inexcusable for a city this size not to be able to have adequate warning and personal informing the public when there is a health threat as serious as this! 

Overflows such as this one can happen, even in the best kept collection systems so I can understand how this happens  sometimes with a collection system as antiquated and rundown as this one. What I can't understand and condone is why the city isn't doing more to educate people and create an adequate notification system to keep us safe. 

I guarantee that if any of the PARA swimming pools showed these levels of e-coli bacteria the pool would close until it was made safe! The same level of protection needs to apply to citizens in public use areas!