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. 

No Excuse Tuscaloosa

 This is completely irresponsible.

I first reported a major sewage blowout and discharge along JVC Road in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 07 2022. I said then it's time to come clean about Tuscaloosa's failing sewer system. It wasn't the first such incident at the same location. In fact there have been many. According to the city's own reporting there have been 388,565 gallons blown out there just during the last 5 year permit period. I should also say that I have serious doubts about the validity of their reporting. 

The cleanup and mitigation began back in early Nov. The city sewer head stated that they were aware of the problems along the line as early as 2020. I know for a fact they have known longer than that. She stated that the city had been working on a plan since 2020 and was letting the system "limp along" hoping it would last until plans were complete. The day after I reported it on 11/07/22 there were about a half dozen people with clean hands and shirts showed up and hovered around the back of a pickup truck for a while and by golly they had a plan! Why did Tuscaloosa drag their feet until a catastrophic failure forced action. I assure you it will cost much more now as an emergency repair that if Tuscaloosa had just done what was required to protect the health and safety of everyone living downstream?

I for one will be happy to see the replacement of this bottleneck of problems. However, in doing so, the contractors have rules they have to follow and the city has a responsibility to insure that contractors working for the taxpayers obey all regulations and rules set in place to protect downstream residents from further negative impacts. I have watched from the sidelines and overhead to see how the contractor would approach this problematic construction. 

I didn't have to wait long to see first hand the negligence, for lack of better word. Absolutely no Best Management Practices (BMPs) were installed as they should have been. There was one attempt back in mid Nov. at the creek crossing. It failed in the first rain event and has not been replaced and or upgraded since. Across the interstate where the Right of Way (ROW) runs through a designated wetland there are no protective BMPs anywhere.

As far as I can see they are leaving us with little option but to bring in ADEM and see if the state can get them under control. It's a shame Tuscaloosa administration doesn't seem to take environmental protection seriously.  

With that said, The following complaint was filed today with Alabama Deputy. of Environmental Management (ADEM)

Heather Jones, ADEM

"Ms. Jones

Please accept this citizen complaint on behalf of John L. Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper and Friends of Hurricane Creek as it pertains to the sewer line replacement on JVC road in Tuscaloosa.

I first reported a sinkhole and sewage overflow at #1 JVC Road on 11/07/22. From that date to the present there has been a lot of excavation with little or no attention to BMPs. The City of Tuscaloosa owns the mess and John Plott is the contractor. I am not sure who will actually be held as the responsible party but both know better than to create such a mess without concern for offsite impacts. Please advise as to who is actually the responsible party.

The roadside at the site of the sinkhole and all along JVC road is being excavated for new pipe and a line bore under I-59. There is only one small silt fence along JVC road ditch. It was not installed properly to begin with and does nothing to stop or even curb the offsite transport of sediment to the unnamed tributary of Cottondale Creek. 

On the other side of the creek near the Interstate Drive entrance there was a silt fence and hay bales set up early in Dec. It failed in the first significant rain event and has not been replaced or modified since. Last night after several hours of rain the BMPs were partially submerged. Photos would not pick it up but the water was about 1/2 way up the hay bales with heavy sediment flowing into the creek.

Across the interstate where the old gravity feed line ran. It is mostly designated wetland according to the flagging ribbon I found. The entire sewer ROW is being used as a haul road and constriction entrance for the line bore to come. There are NO BMPs in the wetland area anywhere. The Roar along the ROW crosses the stream several times with no stream protection or BMPs.

Turbidity samples taken yesterday afternoon, 12/14/22 after about 3/4 inch of rain produced 134 NTU upstream and 3,340 NTU immediately downstream of the bridge. This level of increase is unacceptable. Hurricane Creek is a TMDL stream with a demand for significant reduction in turbidity. No place within the disturbed area has BMPS and the result is several thousand NTU violations.

The city and Plott know better. This must stop. There is no NPDES signage even though the disturbed area easily surpasses the need for a permit and adequate BMP plan immediately.

I am formally requesting an immediate inspection and or stop work order from ADEM until ALL BMP issues have been adequately resolved. It falls under the city general permit then the city should be held responsible and the same for Plott. 

-- 

John L. Wathen,
Hurricane Creekkeeper
Friends of Hurricane Creek
 
Creekkeeper is a member of 
Waterkeeper Alliance
www.waterkeeper.org
 
Who has the authority to say someone else
 is not being a good steward of the environment?
 
Anyone who notices"

SouthWings Shoutout

Sometimes you just have to get a plane.

SouthWings Pilot Robert Searfoss

I have really come to rely on my drone for most close aerial reconnaissance but there are times when that just won't do. Sometimes I have to see the whole watershed in a day to get the full scope of a problem. Such was the case with a recent flyover of the watershed to monitor Alabama Power Co. ROW crossings.

Over the years Alabama Power Co. contractors have been over spraying herbicide to the point it has caused serious erosion problems at a lot of the crossings. 

From the creek, this is what it looks like. The bank is completely scoured of vegetation from the water line to about 20 feet up. 

2017

I can see this crossing from a RR Bridge crossing the creek. The first one is from 2017. They had just begun spraying all the way to the water line. 

Flight courtesy of SouthWings 

This one was taken from a SouthWings flight 09/18/22. You can see a marked increase in dead vegetation as well as a lot more sediment in the creek. 

Flight courtesy of SouthWings 

This crossing is on my land where I have had harsh words with them about herbicide. You can see that the herbicide line stops well above the water line and small brushy vegetation is holding the bank in place. This is the way all of the crossings should look like, not just the ones where people are watching more closely.

I had a conversation with an APCO representative who oversees the Right of Way (ROW) I explained the problem as I have for several years but when I mentioned getting an airplane to look at all of the ROW crossings he seemed to be surprised. 

Flight courtesy of SouthWings 

I explained that from a plane I can survey the entire watershed and every ROW crossing to assess the damage. After our conversation he came up with a plan to address the issue. The contractors are predominately hispanic and speak broken English. Now APCO requires an English speaking APCO rep to be present in this watershed while herbicide is applied. 

Flight courtesy of SouthWings 

There will also be signs placed at every crossing in English and Spanish saying "No herbicide application beyond this sign". I was pleased tp see them already in place by the time we flew.  

Yes a drone is handy but you can't see this from a drone. Without SouthWings, many of the pollution sources I report on would go unnoticed. I can be readily trespassed from accessing property from the ground but there are NO trespass laws in the sky. Many thanks to SouthWings and Pilot Robert Searfoss for the flight and support for so many years. 

Flight courtesy of SouthWings