Sludge pond and polluted lagoon: In Gulf Shores, environmental battle rages over sewer plant

Little Lagoon Gulf Shores

Representatives with the Little Lagoon Preservation Society gather in one of the backyards of the Little Lagoon Mobile Home Park subdivision on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, in Gulf Shores, Ala. This particular home abuts to the Baldwin County Sewer Service's sludge pit (seen in the background) that is the subject of a "cease and desist" order issued by the city of Gulf Shores. The city wants the pit shut down and removed, as residents continue to complain about a lack of buffering blocking it and the strong odors it produces. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

When Rhonda Caviedes arrived to visit her parent’s mobile home in March, she stepped outside and caught a whiff of something so foul that she immediately called 911.

“The city fire department comes out, they investigated, looked over the fence and said, ‘it’s coming from the pond right over there,’” said Caviedes, an attorney from the Dallas area. “They told me I should leave the premises.”

Related content: Fishing mecca to ‘gross lagoon’: Gulf Shores pushing Alabama officials for waterway hearing

The cause of concern had to do with a large sludge pond, built last year without the proper permitting from the city of Gulf Shores on the northwest portion of property owned by the Baldwin County Sewer Services (BCSS). It’s about 75 feet from the mobile home.

During the first week of August, the sewer plant has been the subject of a double whammy of denials:

  • On August 2, the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustments unanimously denied the company’s appeal to reconsider the rejection of a permit that would allow for the sludge pit. The city also issued a “cease and desist” on May 11, requiring BCSS to stop construction of the sludge pond.
  • On August 5, in a separate but somewhat related matter, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management denied the company’s request to modify its permit to increase the flow of wastewater through the plant by more than 65%, from 1.2 million gallons per day to 2 million gallons per day.

The two denials have Gulf Shores city officials, and the watchdog group – Little Lagoon Preservation Society (LLPS) – pleased, for the moment. Anticipation looms for BCSS to appeal the decisions, and continue pursuing an expansion project. The company isn’t commenting while it plans its next move.

The decisions also arrive at a time when Baldwin County, and the cities closest to the state’s popular beaches, battle with rapid growth and worries over how basic government services can keep up with the influx of new residents.

In recent months, opposition has popped all over the county on new subdivision projects. Cities have instituted development moratoriums and hot debates have erupted over transportation priorities. Even one city called on residents to conserve water.

The concerns in Gulf Shores, among the fastest-growing in Alabama, zeroes in on BCSS, a private utility company that provides sewer throughout the county and in parts of Gulf Shores, including unincorporated Fort Morgan.

Residents continue to question the company’s long-term plans. They worry the company’s Fort Morgan plant is taking on more wastewater than it can handle. Officials are also worry the plant is contributing to pollution of Little Lagoon, a 9-mile-long strip of water separated by about a ½-mile from the Gulf of Mexico.

“We live in an environmentally sensitive area,” said Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft in a statement to AL.com, referring to ADEM’s denial of the sewer plant expansion. “We know this area has had issues in the past and we are not in favor of further expansion of this sewer plant.”

Community Scrutiny

Craft applauded ADEM’s role in monitoring the plant, and in the permitting process that led to a public meeting in May over the expansion project.

But credit is also being given to LLPS, a grassroots community-based group started in 1991. The group’s membership includes some residents with impressive resumes: Two chemical engineers, two experts on sewage plant operations, a process engineer, a geologist, a legal expert on environmental matters and a scientists and professor at the University of South Alabama.

“We have a real strong team,” said Dennis Hatfield, president of LLPS, a group whose focuses consists of ensuring water quality around the lagoon is at its highest possible standards and to improve recreational fishing opportunities.

“These experts have the same passion of protecting and preserving the lagoon as I do,” Hatfield said. “We feel like it’s as important to make that plant as benign as possible. We’re not saying decommission it, but we are saying the technology exists to reduce nutrients and metals and to address the effluent surfacing before it gets to the Lagoon. All the tools exist for BCSS to do something for the environment.”

LPSS led the efforts to monitor the plant and keep ADEM informed on what they believe are environmental hazards linked to it. The group pushed for, and received, a public hearing into the plant’s expansion, held on May 19.

ADEM, in its denial letter, acknowledged it received “numerous technical comments” on the BCSS permit during the comment period. ADEM also acknowledged that “new information became known to the department that physical changes to the facility processes were not reflected” in the original application.

Said Hatfield, “There is little doubt that we pointed some things out to ADEM to help them with their evaluation and decision. I’m proud of the team, there is no two ways about it. We are fortunate we had experts.”

BCSS remained mostly quiet while its plans faced governmental scrutiny this year. A representative with the company, in an email to AL.com on Thursday, declined to react to the permit denials, but added that “we are interpreting decisions and contemplating the next steps.”

Hatfield said the company has until August 17 to decide if they will pursue legal action against Gulf Shores for the denial of a conditional use permit to build the sludge pond. It is unclear if a challenge to ADEM’s permit is forthcoming, though LPSS members believe BCSS will make another push to expand the Fort Morgan plant in order to keep up with the ongoing growth in around Gulf Shores.

“They could just give up,” Hatfield said. “That’s what we are hoping they do.”

‘Nuisance’ or ‘right’?

LPSS and the city are concerned over the lack of transparency from BCSS.

Hatfield said the company is proceeding with projects “and then asking for forgiveness later on.”

The company, according to the city, was issued a stop work order in May 2021 for removing trees on its property without getting the proper permits. The trees were removed so the company could build the sludge pond, according to the city. The fine was $1,250.

A “cease and desist” order was then sent to BCSS for the construction of the sludge pond because the company did so without first obtaining a constitutional use permit. The permit cost $300.

The city and BCSS, according to separate letters, have differences on whether the sludge pond’s construction needed the government’s approval.

A BCSS representative, in a June 10 letter to the city, said the sewer plant, built in 1986, was in operation long before the city of Gulf Shores annexed it and nearby property along Fort Morgan Road.

Gulf Shores annexed the property in 2011, and was then given a residentially-zoned classification. The plant consists of two sewer treatment tanks – one 650,000 gallons, the other at 1.2 million gallons.

“The purpose of acquiring additional land around a sewer treatment plant is to allow for the use of the land for needed ponds or storage as deemed necessary to adequately and efficiently operate the sewer treatment plant,” said Gerry McManus, controller with BCSS in a June 10 letter.

He also said that the construction of the sludge pond was an “Essential Service” and “allowed by right.” The city defines the sewer plant as an Essential Service, but zoning officials say the city’s ordinance requires a conditional use permit before construction within the facility can occur.

McManus also said that ADEM did not require the company to obtain a permit to build the sludge pond. He also claims the company did purchase a tree removal permit from the city before removing them.

“The Sewer Company objects to the statement that the operation of the plant and the use of the pond constitutes a nuisance,” McManus said. “With all due respect, this sewer treatment plant has been in this location for over 30 years. For years, there were few residential properties near the plant. The residential development has come to the facility, and the property owners were clearly aware of the facilities existence when they purchased their property.”

Fighting the sludge

Little Lagoon Gulf Shores

Behind the Little Lagoon Mobile Home Park subdivision in Gulf Shores, Ala., is a large sludge pond serving the Baldwin County Sewer Service's plant on Fort Morgan Road in Gulf Shores, Ala. The city of Gulf Shores ordered a "cease and desist" notice to BCSS claiming it did not receive the appropriate permit to build the pond when it emerged in 2021. Residents within the 20-year-old subdivision have complained about foul odor emanating from the facility since the pond was constructed. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

McManus, in his letter, also objected to complaints that odors within the Little Lagoon Mobile Home subdivision are coming from the new pond. They say the odors are likely related to an intake pond, which is located on the other side of the property, which LPSS members dispute.

Caviedes said that her parents have owned the mobile home since 2004. She said during his visits to the home, she never detected a consistent and strong odor until the sludge pond was built in late 2021.

The only thing separating the mobile home from the sludge pond is a wooden fence. A dense wooded area, prior to the trees being removed in 2021, existed as a buffer between portions of the mobile home subdivision and the sewer plant.

Caviedes said that BCSS stopped pouring sludge into the pond after the city issued the “cease and desist” order in May. But the sludge remains stagnant in the pond behind the property, and worries exist over whether heavy rains or a tropical storm – common occurrences during the late summer months along the Alabama Gulf Coast – could lead to the pond spilling over into the mobile home subdivision.

The city says the pond can hold up to 1.1 million gallons.

“The sludge lagoon must go,” she said. “There are not setbacks or a buffer zone. It’s literally in our yards.”

Andy Bauer, the city’s planning director, said they are examining the timetable for BCSS to have the pond removed from the premises.

Hatfield, Caviedes, and others, believe it could be a while if BCSS pursues legal action.

“Until they exhaust their appeals, this sludge lagoon will stay here and be a health hazard to my mom and to the residents of this subdivision,” she said. “BCSS has the right to appeal … I would expect them to appeal while they are negotiating with the city of Gulf Shores and ADEM on the desire to (increase) the capacity of this plant. But I personally know neighbors who had to wear masks in their own yards to do yard work. The stench is overpowering.”

Lagoon worries

Little Lagoon in Gulf Shores, Alabama

Fishermen ride on a boat in Little Lagoon in Gulf Shores, Ala., on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com)

Meanwhile, Hatfield is hopeful that BCSS will consider increasing monitoring for pollutants near Little Lagoon.

He is hopeful the company will commit to all-but eliminating phosphorous from treated wastewater. Too much phosphorous can cause increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants, which can lead to algae blooms that are harmful to water systems.

Little Lagoon, once a fishing mecca for mullet and flounder, has long been transformed into a brackish waterway infiltrated with algae blooms. One longtime resident has labeled it the “gross lagoon.”

Efforts are underway to clean it up. Approximately $6 million in RESTORE Act money has been appropriated for a project that includes decommissioning around 300 septic tanks from low-lying areas near the Lagoon.

Hatfield said LPSS wants to see monitoring wells also installed on the northern parts of the plant leading to Oyster Bay, which is north of Fort Morgan Road and near the BCSS plant. Concerns also exist over whether pollutants from the plant are also flowing into Oyster Bay.

Other questions abound, and there are few answers. One persistent concern is that that sewage is being imported to the Fort Morgan facility from Fairhope and Magnolia Springs.

“We want to see transparency,” Hatfield said. “We would be OK with the increase (of the sewer plant) if they properly permitted and implemented (the technology) to reduce phosphorous to benign levels and increase monitoring. It’s kind of a pipe dream, but we’d like to know how much sewage they are importing north of (Gulf Shores) bringing to that plant.”

He added, “From an environmental standpoint, it’s about better monitoring, reduced phosphorous, and follow the rules.”

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