Could 'Poop Trains' Be Headed Back To Alabama?

BIRMINGHAM, AL —Could so-called "poop trains" once again be headed for Alabama? Local television station CBS 42 has reportedly obtained documents suggesting that could be the case.

In 2018, Alabama made national news, when train cars carrying waste from New York to Big Sky Environmental landfill in Adamsville sat idle on tracks in Walker County and Jefferson County.

"For two months, this two-square-mile coal town (Parrish) in the lush forested hills northwest of Birmingham found itself mired in other people's problems, the unwilling custodian of a train filled with 10 million pounds of treated human waste from New York," The Washington Post wrote in 2018.

"Destined for permanent disposal in a landfill in nearby Adamsville, the train was blocked from traveling through when a neighboring jurisdiction took a stand against having the material traveling through its community. That decision left the train stranded here at the closest stop, emitting foul odors, for what seemed like an eternity to those who had to endure it."

According to CBS 42, government agencies and environmental groups finally intervened and it appeared the practice of accepting waste from the north had stopped.

But CBS 42 recently uncovered documents from the Alabama Department of Environment Management (ADEM) showing that in the past several months, multiple out-of-state wastewater treatment plants —in New York and New Jersey — have been approved to send waste to Big Sky Environmental.

In fact, according to ADEM, Big Sky already had received eight railcars from a wastewater treatment facility in New Jersey in recent weeks, which Big Sky disposed of in a permitted landfill.

According to CBS 42, Big Sky recently constructed a railyard to receive waste. However, the company does not have the proper approvals and permits to operate the new railyard, the station reported.

According to the station, on Feb. 1, ADEM officials issued a notice of violation to Big Sky stating: "The acceptance of waste material via rail and the associated facility operations are not currently included in the facility permit or operations plan."

CBS 42 reported that a local government —where the landfill falls within its jurisdiction — can issue guidelines that determine from where waste can be imported.

Also, ADEM suggested Big Sky would need to submit a detailed operations plan about how it will operate the new railyard, and public notice would be required. Public notice periods allow the public to share feedback with the agency for a period of 35 days.

CBS 42 reported that since November of last year, ADEM had approved several out-of-state facilities to send "municipal wastewater residuals" to Alabama. Those out-of-state facilities include: the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Essex and Union Counties in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission in Newark, New Jersey, and the Suez-Nassau County-Bay Park Wastewater Treatment Plant in East Rockaway, New York.

However, ADEM told the station that approval does not mean the facilities actually will send the waste.

CBS 42 said it reached out to Big Sky Environmental for a statement, but company representatives did not respond.

Read more at CBS42.com.