Residents urge ADEM to deny proposed Integra permit to discharge into Flint River

Residents, business owners and veterans’ advocates told the Alabama Department of Environmental Management at a public hearing that a proposed permit for a private wastewater treatment plant should be denied because the Flint River is widely used for full-body recreation and local livelihoods would be harmed.

“Are we really going to discharge 1,200,000 gallons, gallons of sewage effluent daily into water where children swim based on standards designed only to protect fish and wildlife?” said a resident who spoke during the hearing, summarizing a recurring theme among commenters: that existing permit classifications and monitoring do not reflect how people use the river.

The hearing featured multiple speakers who said the Flint River is heavily used by kayakers, swimmers, school groups and recreation businesses, and that a permitted discharge upstream would threaten those uses and local businesses. Jason Pauls, owner of TGL Adventures in Brownsville, Alabama, said: "This is an abnormal risk to the living river that's central to our community, identity, and economy." He and other small-business owners said higher bacteria counts, visible algae blooms or even the perception of sewage in the river would reduce visitors, costing jobs and sales tax revenue.

Several speakers urged ADEM to require stronger oversight or to deny the permit outright. The unnamed resident opening the public comments asked ADEM to “require…