Residents of Parrish, Alabama, have complained about the smell, an infestation of flies, and concerns about declining property values since the waste has been sitting on the tracks, according to Alabama.com.
The company that delivers the waste to Alabama received a permit from the state in December 2016 to dispose of biosolids, also called “sewer sludge,” from wastewater treatment plants in New York and New Jersey, according to local news reports. Since then, local communities and towns along the route to deliver the waste to the landfill filed complaints and lawsuits to keep the waste and the smell out of their towns, which left the train cars stuck outside Parrish for months while the issue was resolved.
Parrish is about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham and has a population of fewer than 1,000 people.
Parrish Mayor Heather Hall posted on Facebook that the last container was removed from the town on Tuesday afternoon. She wrote that the situation was unprecedented and there was no entity regulating the situation. She added that it took more than two months and state senators getting involved to resolve the issue.
“I will say this over and over… this material does not need to be in a populated area… period. It greatly diminishes the quality of life for those who live anywhere near it,” she wrote in the Facebook post.
Jay Reeves/AP ImagesMayor Heather Hall discusses the nearby train loaded with tons of sewage sludge that is stinking up her community of Parrish, Ala.. April 12, 2018.
Parrish will look at changing its zoning laws to make sure the situation doesn’t happen again, Hall told the Associated Press.
New York City has stopped using the facility in Alabama because of local concern, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection told Alabama.com. The department did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
