{"id":313076,"date":"2025-11-23T06:42:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/tuscaloosa-settles-lawsuit-over-sewage-overflows-agrees-to-upgrades\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T06:42:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T06:42:26","slug":"tuscaloosa-settles-lawsuit-over-sewage-overflows-agrees-to-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313076","title":{"rendered":"Tuscaloosa settles lawsuit over sewage overflows, agrees to upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"


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After two years of litigation, the city of Tuscaloosa has settled a lawsuit over the city\u2019s chronic sewage spills into local waterways.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit was brought against the city in 2023 by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, who accused the city of violating the Alabama Water Pollution Control Act by spilling more than 41 million gallons<\/a> of raw sewage into local waterways over a five-year period. Soon after the suit was filed, two environmental nonprofits\u2013Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Friends of Hurricane Creek\u2013joined the litigation as intervenors with representation from the Southern Environmental Law Center, SELC, having already threatened their own federal lawsuit against the city.<\/p>\n

After the state lawsuit was filed, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox defended city operations<\/a>, saying that 99.9 percent of sewage treated by the city does not overflow and highlighting that Tuscaloosa self-reported the very problems that led to the suit.<\/p>\n

However, with Wednesday\u2019s settlement<\/a>, Tuscaloosa has now officially committed to evaluating and overhauling its sewage system to reduce its spillage rate, promising to invest $18 million in upgrades over the next decade. The city has also pledged to provide more robust public notice when spills do occur in the future, including by posting signs near impacted waterways and recreation areas.<\/p>\n

Following the settlement, representatives from Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Friends of Hurricane Creek released statements celebrating the city\u2019s commitment to better address sewage spills moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cTuscaloosa\u2019s commitments to reduce untreated sewage overflows and upgrade its wastewater treatment plant are necessary first steps toward achieving Clean Water Act permit compliance,\u201d said Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper. \u201cWe will be monitoring Tuscaloosa\u2019s progress, and we\u2019re encouraged by the city\u2019s promise to properly notify the public when their sewage spills reach creeks, lakes, and the river.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese upgrades are meaningful and will help safeguard Hurricane Creek\u2019s water quality,\u201d said John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper. \u201cI am grateful the city plans to take action and make improvements that will make the water safer for families that recreate in Hurricane Creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The SELC also celebrated the agreement, touting the settlement as evidence of the power environmental nonprofits have to effect real-world change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is truly a step in the right direction, and these upgrades will significantly improve Tuscaloosa\u2019s sewage system,\u201d said Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney in SELC\u2019s Alabama office. \u201cThis agreement shows the power of having clean water advocates at the table when ADEM and other regulators are making decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agreement between the city and the plaintiffs will now go to the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa, who must approve the settlement before its provisions can officially take effect.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After two years of litigation, the city of Tuscaloosa has settled a lawsuit over the city\u2019s chronic sewage spills into local waterways. The lawsuit was brought against the city in 2023 by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, who accused the city of violating the Alabama Water Pollution Control […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":313077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[55675,15672,60079,85208,142953,142954,142955,142956,13236,142957,33695,72693,19685,13452],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-313076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-adem","tag-agrees","tag-alabama-attorney-general-steve-marshall","tag-alabama-department-of-environmental-management","tag-alabama-water-pollution-control-act","tag-black-warrior-riverkeeper","tag-circuit-court-of-tuscaloosa","tag-friends-of-hurricane-creek","tag-lawsuit","tag-overflows","tag-settles","tag-sewage","tag-tuscaloosa","tag-upgrades"],"yoast_head":"\nTuscaloosa settles lawsuit over sewage overflows, agrees to upgrades - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuscaloosa settles lawsuit over sewage overflows, agrees to upgrades - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After two years of litigation, the city of Tuscaloosa has settled a lawsuit over the city\u2019s chronic sewage spills into local waterways. 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