Water Sector News
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Jefferson County moves to exit decades long environmental sewer consent decree
The Jefferson County Commission filed a motion this week to be freed from a 1996 consent decree over its sewer systems.
Under that decree, the county agreed to update its sewer systems to follow Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards and improve water quality in the Black Warrior and Cahaba River systems as mandated by the U.S. Justice Department, according to a 2011 Birmingham News article.
The improvements were part of the county’s $3.14 billion sewer debt when it filed for the largest and most expensive municipal bankruptcy ($4.23 billion total) in American history at that time. The county’s financial disaster was compounded by nearly two dozen county officials being eventually convicted of federal bribery and conspiracy charges between 2005-2010, as noted in previous AL.com articles.