No Sewage Spills Reported During Big Storm

Fairhope, Alabama 

 Edited.

No sewage spills recently.

UPGRADES  CREDITED

The city's water/sewage superintendent Daryl Morefield told the Times recently no sewage spills were reported over the past weekend, when almost nine inches of rain fell in places around town; he pointed to new regular maintenance-checks of lift stations  -- as well as ongoing multi-million dollar sewage capacity upgrades for the improvement. 

The Times could find no recent reports of overflows on the usual water quality monitoring sites either (Baykeeper, ADEM).

COMMON IN THE PAST

Several years ago, sewage spills/overflows were commonplace here after heavy rain, as the storm water leaked into aging pipes and manholes (some actually still made of clay and brick) overwhelming the system.

Then, in 2017 federal RESTORE grants ($10 million) were applied for and awarded in 2018 (project #396); construction actually started in 2020 enlarging and relining conveyance pipes/manholes, upgrading lift stations, adding storage capacity, adding numerous emergency power generators, et. al.  (RESTORE grants were funded by environmental fines imposed on the BP Oil Company.)

These upgrades are continuing today using additional grants and self-funding: contracts were just awarded for pipe/lift stations improvements on Thompson Hall Road and for Scenic Hwy 98, south of the Grand Hotel (new lift station).

MAYOR WEIGHS IN

When asked about the recent reduction of sewage spills, Mayor Sullivan replied: "This is a testament to the ongoing work that the City is doing on infrastructure and the dedicated employees who spent all night out checking lift stations to make sure all were working properly." 

 

 

One new grant-funded tank.

 

2018 RESTORE project meeting.