Alabama-based environmental group Tennessee Riverkeeper has announced it intends to sue the city of Huntsville over a series of sewer overflows that occurred over the last three years.
The group says it filed a formal notice of intent to sue the city in federal district court on Friday, the first step in bringing a Clean Water Act lawsuit against a city or municipal body.
They say Huntsville’s Spring Branch Wastewater Treatment Plant, in south Huntsville near Redstone Arsenal, has reported 79 sewer overflows since 2018, discharging more than 1.25 million gallons of untreated sewage.
Tennessee Riverkeeper founder David Whiteside said the city’s repeated overflows violate the federal Clean Water Act and state laws.
“When raw sewage is discharged into communities it carries with it bacteria and pathogens that can be a threat to public health,” Whiteside said in a news release.
When asked for comment, the city of Huntsville issued a news release saying it had not received the notice of intent to sue.
“The City of Huntsville has not received any official documentation of this intent to sue or had any communication with the Tennessee Riverkeepers,” the statement said.
The statement also said that the city’s Water Pollution Control Department has “invested millions of dollars annually in sewer system rehabilitation,” and that if follows guidance and best practices from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for operations and maintenance of the facility.
“The City awaits receipt of a copy of Riverkeepers filing, and, upon review, will respond appropriately,” the statement said.
The notice of intent states that the overflows are entering Tennessee River tributaries Broglan Branch, Aldridge Creek, Dallas Branch, Pinhook Creek, McDonald Creek, Spring Branch, Norman Branch, Merrimac Branch, West Fork Creek, and Sherwood Creek.
Whiteside said the overflows showed a “continuing pattern of pollution.” Their notice of intent to sue was sent by certified mail to Mayor Tommy Battle. That letter is embedded below.
“Huntsville’s sewage pollution problems have existed for years according to the city’s own data,” Whiteside said. “The city is growing rapidly and Huntsville’s leaders must address failing sewage infrastructure to accommodate this growth or this problem will worsen.”