One former Alabama state employee is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after decades of work to bring sanitation equity to the state's "Black Belt."
Inside Climate News reported about the state's progress one year after settling a civil rights complaint with the federal government that alleged Alabama was discriminating against Black residents by failing to provide adequate sewage treatment in rural Lowndes County. People in this poverty-stricken area have suffered public health consequences, including hookworm, as a result of poor sanitation.
The publication explained that while the state's progress was slow, the nonprofit Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Project is installing new wastewater filtration systems for residents thanks to federal funding.
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Sherry Bradley runs the organization. Bradley is an Alabama Department of Health alum who took up the fight to bring adequate wastewater solutions to Lowndes County in her free time during her 45 years with the state.
Meanwhile, the publication added, the Alabama Department of Public Health is slowly creeping forward on solutions, including surveying residents to better understand the scope of the project. It also signed a $1.5 million agreement with the Lowndes County Unincorporated Wastewater Project to begin installing new sanitation systems.
The installation of such systems will help protect people from hookworm, which can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and anemia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lowndes County's remediation efforts couldn't come at a more apt time — warming global temperatures are leading to heavier rains and flooding in the area, making septic systems more likely to overflow and put residents in contact with raw sewage. Updating these systems will also be a win for the environment, as raw sewage can endanger waterways and wildlife.
Across the United States, similar environmental justice efforts are underway to help clean up underserved communities. For instance, a Chicago nonprofit is transforming an abandoned brownfield on the city's South Side into a clean energy facility and agriculture center. Plus, two sisters in an area known as "Cancer Alley" won a legal battle to keep a new industry from coming to their town that would have endangered historic spaces.
As for progress in Lowndes County, "it's technical, but there's a solution," Bradley told Inside Climate News. "And we're bringing the solution."
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