GUEST OPINION: West Tuscaloosa Needs More Than A Riverwalk, We Need To Stop Sewage Spills

*This is an opinion column written by Dr. Kenya L. Goodson*

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Less than a year ago Tuscaloosa broke ground on the Riverwalk project to extend miles of paved trails westward, giving West Tuscaloosa residents like me access to the Black Warrior River.

At the project’s groundbreaking last May, Mayor Walt Maddox hailed the investment as proof of the city’s renewed commitment to West End residents. The project promised to kickstart development and investment in a community often overlooked by almost everyone — except companies looking to build industrial plants.

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As an environmental engineer, I’ve made my life’s work pushing for equitable access to environmental protection for Black and Brown communities. I felt a sense of pride visiting the city’s new Riverwalk for my Black community. That pride vanished when the wind blew, and the smell took over. Raw sewage. It was an all too familiar stench from early in my career working with rural Alabama communities without adequate sanitation. The rank smell of sewage and industrial waste was a stark contrast to a brand-new walking trail in West End.

The city of Tuscaloosa’s sewage system has spilled nearly 42 million gallons of sewage since 2018, according to their own public records. These spills are occurring at about three times the rate of an average city. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is now suing Tuscaloosa because their raw, untreated household and industrial waste (including E. coli) spills into our community and the Black Warrior River.

One of the most frequent overflow locations is a sewage facility right behind the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, feet from the banks of the Black Warrior River and the Riverwalk. Another is Lift Station 21, located in the Cherrystone neighborhood in West Tuscaloosa. In fact, most repeat overflows happen in Tuscaloosa’s majority Black neighborhoods, according to state records. After years of fighting for the health and safety of families dealing with foul sewage conditions, it was hard for me to understand how this could happen in my own hometown. Even worse was the news that Tuscaloosa leadership chooses to dismiss this legitimate health concern and how it disproportionally impacts Black citizens.

As our city continues to grow, and West Tuscaloosa receives the development and investment it craves, we will put more and more pressure on our sewage system.

Earlier this year, the city pledged more than $21 million towards drinking water and sewage system upgrades, but only about $5.6 million is earmarked to address where the sewage spills are happening.

Much more capital funding is needed for the broken, leaking pipes, and outdated, overwhelmed lift stations where raw sewage is spilling. Until Tuscaloosa addresses these sewage system failures, it continues to put the health of residents at risk.

West Tuscaloosa needs more than a Riverwalk. We need equitable resources for a safe, healthy environment that smells as good as it looks.

Dr. Kenya L. Goodson is the Climate and Sustainability Coordinator for Hometown Action/Hometown Organizing Project. Dr. Goodson also serves as the board president of the Cahaba River Society, and member of Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s advisory council. She is a West Tuscaloosa native and the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alabama.