Wastewater treatment is a big concern on Alabama's coast.
The concerns in Gulf Shores, among the fastest-growing in Alabama, zeroes in on BCSS, a private utility company that provides sewer throughout the county and in parts of Gulf Shores, including unincorporated Fort Morgan.
But credit is also being given to LLPS, a grassroots community-based group started in 1991. The group’s membership includes some residents with impressive resumes: Two chemical engineers, two experts on sewage plant operations, a process engineer, a geologist, a legal expert on environmental matters and a scientists and professor at the University of South Alabama.
ADEM, in its denial letter, acknowledged it received “numerous technical comments” on the BCSS permit during the comment period. ADEM also acknowledged that “new information became known to the department that physical changes to the facility processes were not reflected” in the original application.
The company, according to the city, was issued a stop work order in May 2021 for removing trees on its property without getting the proper permits. The trees were removed so the company could build the sludge pond, according to the city. The fine was $1,250. Gulf Shores annexed the property in 2011, and was then given a residentially-zoned classification. The plant consists of two sewer treatment tanks – one 650,000 gallons, the other at 1.2 million gallons.
“The Sewer Company objects to the statement that the operation of the plant and the use of the pond constitutes a nuisance,” McManus said. “With all due respect, this sewer treatment plant has been in this location for over 30 years. For years, there were few residential properties near the plant. The residential development has come to the facility, and the property owners were clearly aware of the facilities existence when they purchased their property.
Caviedes said that BCSS stopped pouring sludge into the pond after the city issued the “cease and desist” order in May. But the sludge remains stagnant in the pond behind the property, and worries exist over whether heavy rains or a tropical storm – common occurrences during the late summer months along the Alabama Gulf Coast – could lead to the pond spilling over into the mobile home subdivision.“The sludge lagoon must go,” she said. “There are not setbacks or a buffer zone.
Little Lagoon, once a fishing mecca for mullet and flounder, has long been transformed into a brackish waterway infiltrated with algae blooms. One longtime resident has labeled it the “gross lagoon.”
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