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. 
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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
