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| State looks to private sector for sewage treatment |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/07/2006 |
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MONTGOMERY, AL It's a heavy duty cleaning job like no other: ridding Alabama's rivers of the sewage that has seeped out of eight waste water management facilities run by the prison system for years then making sure it doesn't happen again. The state corrections department, after complaints and lawsuits accusing it of heavy duty pollution, is turning to the private sector this time. This comes as the Limestone Water and Sewer Authority has expressed interest in treating sewage at the Limestone Correctional Facility in Capshaw in eastern Limestone County. Also, the city of Huntsville is looking at annexing the facility and treating its sewage. The prison, which produces 200,000 gallons of sewage a day, has been cited five times in the past year for discharges exceeding permitted levels, according to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. DOC attorney Kim Thomas said Thursday that letting private companies operate the waste water treatment plants under lease agreements will allow the department to "get out of the sewage business." Starting July 20, the department will begin accepting proposals from firms on how they will comply with state and federal environmental laws and how it will be financed. The deadline for submitting proposals is Aug. 9. Prisons Commissioner Richard Allen hopes to have companies chosen by this fall. "Everyone that's going to be a bidder has to be experienced in this area," Allen said. "We're trying to get something that's going to fix these problems." The plants on prison grounds treat the waste produced by inmates. The waste water is supposed to be treated to meet health standards before being released into the surrounding waterways. Because of overcrowding and aging equipment, raw sewage and partially treated water are often released, leading to damaged environments, broken codes and lawsuits. "Currently the department is in the sewage business in a way because DOC operates and maintains those plants," Thomas said. Under the department's plan, the private operator will take on the financial responsibilities and the department will be a customer. The transfers will place the responsibility of complying with ADEM codes on the operators. "It's not like we're sitting back and not paying any attention, but just the management and operations will be more on the vendor as opposed to us," Thomas said. According to the agency's proposal request, vendors will lease and improve the equipment at the prison sites and pay DOC a percentage of any profits they make from treating waste from other clients in the areas they service with the prison plants. The privatization model was adopted at Donaldson prison in Jefferson County when DOC turned it over to Alabama Utility Service last year. That move was prompted when the Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a Birmingham-based environmental group, filed a complaint against DOC with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The group claimed Donaldson had committed more than 1,000 violations of the Clean Water Act since 1999 by discharging sewage into Big Branch and Valley Creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River. |
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