Attalla faces wastewater fine

Mayor Larry Means

A proposed consent order has been issued between the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the city of Attalla calling for the city to pay fines totaling $10,400 for 46 violations of water pollution regulations. It also requires the city to make substantial upgrades to it’s sewer system lagoon to improve the quality of the water the system releases into the Coosa River.

The improvements include either having wastewater from the lagoon treated by an existing plant before it is released into the Coosa river, or building a new treatment plant.

The consent order was released Jan. 8 and the public comment period ended Feb. 8. Coosa Riverkeeper, a citizen-led river conservation group, is calling for tighter deadlines and stronger penalties against Attalla.

Attalla was cited in the order for exceeding discharge limits between June 2013 and August 2014.

Forty of the violations were related to discharges from the lagoon, and six concerned two instances of overflowing manholes in 2014.

The order noted that the city did not notify ADEM or the county health department within 24 hours of the overflowing incidents as required and did not do testing for chronic toxicity during the August 2013 monitoring period.

The city could be fined up to $25,000 for each violation, with the total fine not to exceed $250,000.

The city of Attalla has raised its sales tax and increased its sewer rates to finance improvements to its sewer system mandated by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The City Council in January approved a 0.75 percent increase in the sales tax, raising the total tax collected on purchases in the city to 9.75 percent.

The council also voted to increase sewer rates by 10 percent — the first increase in more than 10 years, according to Mayor Larry Means.

Both increases will go into effect March 1.