Wastewater hearing draws hundreds of residents

By Trevor Stokes
Staff Writer

KILLEN - Hundreds of concerned residents showed up at a public hearing tonight to voice their concern and disgust over a proposed wastewater treatment plant near Mill and Bluewater creeks.

The hearing at Brooks High School was sponsored by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. About 70 people signed up to speak to ADEM officials and during the hearing, dozens of residents held “NO PERMIT” signs.

Chris Matthews, manager of Alabama Utility Services that requested the permit to build the wastewater treatment plant, told the crowd, “Anyone who has any environmental concerns, whether written or spoken, we’re here to listen and hear your comments.”

When ADEM officials asked for comments from elected officials, no one came forward to speak.

However, when asked, Mayor Jerry Mitchell said, “We’re still pursuing all the options we can and this is one of them. We’ll wait for what ADEM has to say.”

The East Lauderdale Environment Conscious Citizens group collected 7,419 signatures from east Lauderdale residents who oppose the permit. When the petition was presented to ADEM, the crowd reacted by cheering and applauding.

The East Lauderdale Environment Conscious Citizens group also presented results from a $10,000 hydrogeological study, paid for by residents and conducted by Thomas Aley, an Alabama licensed professional geologist. The report cited 13 conclusions against the engineering on the proposed wastewater plant site.

Conclusions included: failure to discuss or evaluate three other alternatives; an estimated 90 percent of the treated sewage would be generated from within Killen’s city limits; economically non-viability of the plant; several claims of false data on submitted soil types; characterization of bedrock; suitability of existing onsite residential sewage systems; and concerns about ground water contamination from Mill Creek.

Many in the audience argued that the proposed wastewater treatment plant had no place near the Mill or Bluewater creeks, which are miles away from Killen’s city limits.

“Do your homework mayor and council members,” said Rhea Fulmer, spokeswoman for the Bridge Road Environmental Watch. “Especially when you're trying to impose your self-serving will on those you don’t govern.”

Concerns about decreased property values, unpleasant odors and water contamination were presented to the ADEM representatives.

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