10 Rivers Patrol on Hurricane Creek

 10 Rivers Patrol on Hurricane Creek

I like my job but it has its drawbacks. Like when it rains. That's when we as Waterkeepers work the most. There are 10 Waterkeepers in Alabama now. We cover the largest and some of the smallest watersheds in the state. Some of our watersheds cross state boundaries even. Each year we host a 10 Rivers Patrol somewhere in the state. This month, I had the privilege of having the group to our watershed, Hurricane Creek. 

It was a patrol that almost didn't happen due to the weather. The plan was to walk along the trails in the PARA park on 216 but it began seriously raining then a slight rumble of thunder told me not to get too deep into the woods. We did go down to the old mill site located within the park for a while. It's hard to understand a stream you have never seen or touched the water. 

We left the park and went to one of our longest standing pollution headaches, Eagle Bluff Landfill AKA Buzzards Roost, AKA Mt. Trashkauloosa. I first started fighting this polluter for compliance in 2008. At times we had some good results but others, not so much. The community has seen a lot of abuse from this facility. Not always from environmental concerns. The landfill entrance is directly across from two cemeteries. Funeral processions have routinely been blocked in or out of the grave yard by garbage trucks. For the entire time they have been here they have been a nuisance. 

I was elated to walk down the road with all of the Keepers around me to find the official "CLOSED" sign on the gate. I knew it was coming but being together when I saw it was great.

On the way to the next stop we stopped by the Watson Bend to see some of thecreek. This is the site of the 2011 tornado which wiped out most of our forest. It was the first time for many of the group but I can safely say it will not be the last. Hurricane Creek has a way of calling people back. Rain or Shine.

During the recovery after the tornado we built a saw mill right in the center of the tornado damage and began salvaging as many of the trees as possible. It wasn't that hard and we were able to repurpose every tree in the camp ground. Some of the wood went to the Alberta Gathering Center and some went other places. One such repurpose was the creation of the Cahaba Riverkeeper office!

All of the wood used to build their office was cut from tornado debris. Stuff that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. It was really fun to show the saw shed to David Butler, Cahaba Riverkeeper who had never seen it.

After that I took them on a short patrol of some of our most pressing pollution issues on the creek. It goes without saying some of the more problematic sewer overflow sites were on the tour. This is lift station 42 (LS42) on Hargrove Road where over 110,000 gallons of raw sewage has entered an unknown tributary of Cottondale Creek. Besides the overflow issues here, there is a major problem with escaping h2S Gas, Hydrogen Sulfide.  Besides the nauseatingly terrible smell, h2S is dangerous for humans to breath in long exposures and high volumes.

There is enough gas coming from LS42 that it has rotted the industrial strength galvanized chain link fence and poles. This fence was not like this in 2018. It h2S will do this to galvanized steel, what is it doing to the people living nearby.

The blue barrel is some sort of odor control. It sucks vapor through a series of filters but it has little effect. SO, the city hung huge toilet pucks on the fence to disguise the odor. It now sometimes smells like a pay toilet in a roadside truck stop. 

Even the toilet pucks didn't hide the smell while it was raining. It is a lot more than just an unpleasant odor. This could very well be a health issue for nearby residents.

We then went to JVC Road where there was recently a catastrophic failure of the sewer system and ongoing mitigation. Unfortunately the mitigation is not going by the rules and the fix is causing major issues that need tone addressed ASAP. A complaint was filed with ADEM to see if they can get the project in compliance. We'll see.

In the end, I was glad it rained. It gave me a chance to show my Waterkeeper folks just what it's like here when I work. It was a great day after all and I hope it will inspire them to come back.