Residents, church representatives and water-quality professionals told the Alabama Department of Environmental Management at a public hearing that they want the agency to deny or delay a draft permit for an Integra wastewater treatment plant that would discharge treated effluent into the Flint River near Berry Hill/Berryhill Estates in Madison County.

The speakers said the river is frequently used for whole-body contact, including swimming, tubing, baptisms and commercial recreation, and they raised technical and operational concerns: the proposed discharge volume, low-flow dilution near the proposed outfall, documented noncompliance at an existing Integra facility, and neighborhood impacts such as odor, noise, light and property-value reductions.

Cameron Craig, a water-quality and water-security professional who said he works on water quality for the armed services, told the hearing, "I am here tonight to oppose this permit application in the strongest possible terms." He asked ADEM for "a more accurate study" of low-flow discharge and stricter sampling and monitoring protocols, and said the permit's 7Q2 flow estimates rely on outdated data from a gauge downstream of a confluence and therefore "significantly overestimate" dilution capacity.

Local physician Scott Pitzer said the river is used for full-body contact and cited state guidance discouraging swimming near discharges. Pitzer quantified the proposed discharge, saying that at the low end it would equal about 60 swimming pools per day and at the high end about 160 pools, and estimated that during late summer the discharge could equal "10 to 15% of the total flow of the river at the point of discharge." He said that use and a discharge at the proposed location were "incompatible" and opposed the permit.

Several residents described recreational and family uses at or downstream of the proposed outfall. George R. Hoover said, "Our kids ... kayak, fish, and play" in the stretch of river just downstream of the planned plant, and urged ADEM to disapprove the permit. Mary Fields, reading a statement on behalf of River Hills Church, described an annual river baptism tradition and said the church feared the plant would make such events "harmful and dangerous."

Speakers cited the compliance record of Integra's existing Meridianville/Briar Fork facility. Cameron Craig and other commenters said that federal and state databases show multiple quarters of noncompliance at that site for parameters including solids, nutrients and E. coli. Jeff Williams and other residents described visible sludge and reported E. coli results above limits in samples they collected downstream of the existing outfall.

Neighborhood concerns extended beyond water quality. Cindy Hooper said the project "fails to protect our established neighborhood," cited a proposed setback that had been increased from 400 feet to about 700 feet, and warned of "odor, noise, light pollution, and traffic." Several speakers asked for an independent environmental impact review, enforceable service agreements, and independent verification of monitoring rather than reliance on permittee self-reporting.

Speakers asked ADEM to require: an accurate low-flow measurement at the proposed outfall site; stricter monitoring and sampling protocols; proof that Integra has a sustained record of compliance at its other facilities before issuing a new permit; and an independent environmental review of potential impacts. Others asked local officials to consider setbacks, buffer zones and zoning changes so future wastewater infrastructure would not be placed adjacent to established residential areas.

ADEM hearing staff told attendees that written questions and comments could be submitted to the hearing officer. Commenters invoked ADEM guidance and the agency's enforcement authority in urging denial or delay; they also noted that fines and notices issued to operators had not, in their view, led to sufficient remediation at existing facilities.

No formal vote or permitting decision was recorded at the hearing. Speakers said they submitted photos, water-sample results and records of prior violations for ADEM's review and asked the agency either to deny the draft permit or to delay final action until the requested studies and compliance verifications were completed.

The hearing record shows broad community opposition at the meeting to the draft Integra permit based on public-health, ecological and neighborhood-quality-of-life concerns. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management will include public comments in its administrative record as it proceeds through the agency's permitting process.