News & Announcements

• BCSS shares concerns voiced at Lillian Sewer System Symposium
  
  
  
  Treated chlorinated effluent is clean and odorless.
  LILLIAN, AL - Friday, March 14, The Perdido Bay Foundation held a symposium addressing citizen's concerns about declining water quality in Perdido Bay. About 70 people attended to hear presentations from USA professor Dr. Chad Christina and local attorney Randall Caldwell and a round table discussion with local and state health officials and politicians. Citizens comments ranged from concerns about the operation of the BCSS Spanish Cove Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) to the continuing ill health of Perdido Bay. Larry Burnette, of the Perdido Bay Foundation, noted that the problems with the bay involved both Alabama and Florida. Decades-long industrial runoff by a local paper mill, sewage and agricultural runoff are significant problems. No one from Florida attended the Symposium.
  
  Several concerned citizens reported raw sewage and toilet paper in the trees along Peterson Branch. Scott Brown, Mobile Chief of Operations for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) was asked repeatedly about whether the BCSS Spanish Cove WWTP was the culprit.
  
  "The data shows that Baldwin County Sewer Service is not contributing to the degradation of water quality in Peterson Branch or Perdido Bay." Brown went on to say, again repeatedly that the data shows that the Lillian plant is operating in compliance with guidelines set by ADEM. The data involves Daily Monitoring Reports (DMRs)conducted at the plant by WMI,Inc., an independent third-party operator of the plant, split testing by independent lab EnviroChem, and tests from four monitoring wells surrounding the plant. DMRs and monitoring well reports go directly from WMI to ADEM. Baldwin County Sewer Service also receives copies of the reports. DMRs from any WWTP in the state, including BCSS can be viewed by the public at the ADEM office in Montgomery.
  
  Brown also referenced a 2007 ADEM study of the BCSS Spanish Cove WWTP called 'Lillian Special Study.' The study, in response to citizen's concerns, sampled six sites on Peterson Branch and its tributaries and the Lillian WWTP over five weeks. The study also "observed cattle farms and pine plantations in the west and northwest of the Spanish Cove subdivision.
  
  The BCSS Spanish Cove WWTP does not release effluent into any receiving body of water, rather returns chlorinated, treated effluent to the earth via a series of percolation ponds. Initially, as raw sewage comes into the plant, screens filter out all solids, including toilet paper, from the mixture. By the time the treated effluent reaches the percolation ponds, it is odorless, colorless, clear water. The sides of the ponds are hard packed clay covered with grass. The bottom of the ponds contains 10-12 feet of sand which acts as a filter to catch any microscopic solids before returning to the soil. "Even though we are not required by ADEM, we chlorinate the effluent before it goes into the perc ponds," said WMI's president Doug Horton. "If they're continually seeing toilet paper and sewage in Peterson Branch, it's not from here."
  
  Attendees were invited to tour the plant. Even though there was significant response to the invitation, only one person came to the plant. That day, two of the percolation ponds were empty and dry. The plant experienced normal daily flows. Spanish Cove resident Jeanne Elliot led a group including Teddy King, Environmental Supervisor, Baldwin County Health Department, ADEM's Brown, and local state representative Steve McMillan to water flowing out of the ground along Eagle Path, near the plant. Spot testing of the water by the Baldwin County Health Department revealed no e coli or fecal coliform, which are determinants of the presence of sewage and no stench was reported. ADEM's Brown assured resident of further testing of the area.
  
  "Baldwin County Sewer Service is doing our part to improve water quality in Baldwin County," said BCSS representative Charlie Baumhauer who attended the symposium along with representatives of WMI, Inc. "If residents see a problem, be sure to report it to ADEM, Baldwin County Board of Health and Baldwin County Sewer Service. If it's our problem, we'll fix it."
  
  To report a spill or emergency problem, call 971-3022, 24 hours a day. To express concerns or to set up a tour of the treatment facility call Charlie Baumhauer at the same number or click on "Contact Us" above.
  
   www.adem.state.al.us/