Come Clean About Sewage

 Come Clean About Sewage

On Nov. 7, 2022 I reported a major sewage overflow on JVC road that was leaving the site and going underground along I-59. My first thought was that it must have been getting into the drains leading to Cottondale Creek. In fact the official notice from the city said as much “There has been a sanitary sewer overflow in the 1 block of JVC Road. The overflow is ongoing. It will reach a storm drain that leads to an unnamed tributary that leads to Cottondale Creek, which leads to Hurricane Creek. The affected area will be cleaned and disinfected. Signage is in place.” Tuscaloosa City sewer overflow notice Tue, Nov 8, 12:49 PM.

Since the sinkhole around the manhole happened within 100 yds. of Cottondale Creek it was only natural to assume that was where it was going. The creek was dark black and had an unpleasant odor to it.

Cottondale Creek did, in fact show signs of being discolored with a dark substance. A direct quote from the city sewer head, Kimberly Michael states “The sewer line in question carries wastewater from Mercedes Benz U.S. International to the city's wastewater treatment plant, and Michael said the land around Manhole No. 6978 was washed out during heavy rains in 2020.”

 

 

Here is a photo of that same manhole in July of 20 and it was not washed out.

 

"This is a project that we have had in the works since 2020 when there was a major washout in the area, so we have been working with engineering and we're in the final stages of engineering on that project," Michael said. "However, we've had a catastrophic failure out there so we are actively working with the John Plott Company to try to stabilize everything right now."

Ms. Michael was not in the sewer dep. in 2020. Where did that information come from? I have visited this site many times before and since 2020 and have seen no such “wash out”. Which rain event caused this mystery washout and WHY did the city not address it at that time? Why did they wait for a catastrophic failure to react? This is the result of neglecting the situation? There are so many questions that need answered.

If the “washout” happened in 2020, was it there in 2021 Alabama Power Co. (APCO) set up mats and drove heavy equipment through the area to access the ROW for the new concrete poles set only a few feet away. Take a look at this Google Earth photo from 2021. It shows the APCO mats in place the one is directly over the recently “catastrophic failure”. The APCO permit (ALR10C0DG) for that construction was issued in Feb. 21 and was terminated March 18, 2022.

Did this really start in 2020? The catastrophic failure of this force main line happened recently in my opinion. If Ms. Michael has evidence that contradicts mine, I’d like to see it.  

Ms. Michael claims it is all contained in the hole nearby. Watch this video and ask yourself who’s telling the truth here?

What was in that black wastewater and where did this stuff go? According to Michael "There is an active overflow happening right now, but we do feel like it is contained in the hole that is in the area.” The hole she is referring to is a sinkhole leading to a decrepit, rusted sewer pipe leading under the interstate. The open sinkhole measured roughly 25 feet long and as much as 15 feet wide. All of the dirt that was there before has washed down the drain, so to speak. It has completely eroded the I-59 fence poles from the ground where they hung suspended above a large hole that has funneled potentially thousands if not millions of gallons of industrial wastewater and sewage effluent underground. When it entered this pipe, where did it go?

Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper

I have searched the area on foot and can’t find where it is coming in but I do believe it is finding it’s way to the creek, if not now, sometime in the future.

David Butler, Cahaba Riverkeeper

Mercedes has a permit to discharge industrial wastewater into the city's sanitary sewer system. Could the mixture of those chemicals be killing out the E-coli? What tests did the city perform? Just E-coli or did they do a full spectrum test to determine what industrial pollutants might have been entering Cottondale Creek and later Hurricane Creek itself? The tests to determine that should have been done at once by Tuscaloosa sewer dep. It is their responsibility to accurately report what and how much sewage effluent that is lost into the environment. Where are those results?

Ms. Michael stated “the city was making plans to reroute sewage away from that manhole and hoped to "limp along" until that project was finished, but said the failure came a few months before the work was to be completed.” Limping along with a major sewer artery, which delivers toxic sewage and industrial wastewater, is why the city sewer system is in such disrepair. It’s time to stop limping along and FIX the failures.

 

According one official report there was only 500 gallons “contained in a hole”. Review the video above and see for yourself. I believe it was a lot more and the city knew where it.

 

 

 

I know now that I was right all along. There was, in fact a large severely deteriorated pipe under the ground which all of the effluent went into. I still don’t know where it leads but I do know that SOMEONE at the city knows and has known for some time now. The city needs to notify the public about the true nature of how much sewage and wastewater was spilled over multiple days, and where this pipe took it to. 

About a 30 inch, severely degraded pipe at Sinkhole

Severely degraded steel pipe contains sewage and oily sheen

 This is a section of the forced main leading away from Mercedes and discharging for days at the JVC site! It had failed long ago according to the size of those rust holes.

18 inch Forced Sewer Main coming from Mercedes.

It’s the city’s responsibility to check these things out and make the facts available to the public. After all, they work for us!

 UPDATE

We now know from scouring the city reports that the overflow was flowing back into the degraded system going under the interstate. From the size and number of holes in the pipe, it makes sense. It looks like the entire system needs to be replaced.

(Video taken 11/16/22, 11:35 AM.)