Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/marielleleenen (Getty)
As bad as it is living in Alabama, it’s probably even more difficult when your town smells like shit. But that’s pretty much the problem that is facing Alabama residents thanks to good old New York.
A train which transport sewage from New York and New Jersey has really pissed off people in Alabama as the smell of rotten stench and fly infestations has filled the city of Birmingham. The smell has gotten so bad that a city council meeting was held recently.
Numerous train cars transporting sewage sludge have been rolling across the South to an Alabama landfill since early 2017, sparking widespread complaints, Al.com reported.
The sewage sludge is being transported from New York and New Jersey, lawyers for the Alabama town of West Jefferson said in a January lawsuit. It smells like “dead, rotting animals” and human waste, and has caused fly infestations in the community, the attorneys wrote. The sewage material has also sloshed out of trucks and spilled onto roads, where it sometimes sticks to vehicle tires, West Jefferson Mayor Charles Nix has said.
“When it’s hot, if people go out to their mailbox and one of these trucks rolls by, they have to go in and shower. It’s that bad. The odor is just horrific.”
The stink has also been an issue in Parrish, where the town council held a special meeting recently regarding complaints about smelly train cars being stored at a rail yard there.
Here’s what Heather Hall, the Parrish Mayor, had to say about the smelly issue:
“The smell really started getting bad here. I mean, it was terrible. It greatly reduces the quality of life of anybody that this is around. You cannot go outside, you can’t sit on your porch, and this stuff, it’s here in our town, it’s not like it’s an industrial area.”
An inspection by Alabama environmental officials found “no odor leaks,” but the complaints were enough for New York to break off with the company handling Alabama disposal. “As a precaution and to better understand local concern, we have discontinued utilizing this facility,” says a city official.
Well when you choose to live in Alabama you have to deal with crap. Just like if you choose to live in New York or Jersey you have to deal with actual crap.
