Several water protection organizations have released an interactive map of the sewage spills that occurred in Alabama last year.
According to the map, over 46 million gallons of sewage were released into community streams and waterways across the state. The map was created by nine different water protection groups across the state to accompany a petition they sent to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke says the language of the current law regarding sewage spills is vague, and even though it's required, some operators aren't submitting reports of sewage overflows and spills.
“Our Department of Environmental Management doesn’t seem to take this issue seriously enough and so they are not upholding the law. And in some cases we’re talking about daily spills of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage into communities and streams.”
The Environmental Management Commission will review the petition this Friday. The hearing is open to the public and will be held at the ADEM main conference room in Montgomery.