Decatur council approves 3M force-main franchise amid resident questions about PFAS monitoring

The Decatur City Council voted to approve ordinance 26-46-42, authorizing a franchise for 3M to construct a force main that will carry pretreated wastewater into the city sewer system, a step officials said continues remediation required under a prior settlement. The vote was recorded as four ayes with one abstention.

Donna Underwood, a resident of District 1, spoke during agenda-related public comment and urged greater transparency about the permit and monitoring. "First of all, where is the transparency from our city leaders?" Underwood asked, saying the original permit was granted in 2024 and noting that the permit lists several manholes where pretreated discharge was trucked into the sewer. She asked specifically: "How is that being treated?" and noted that "on page two, it is listed forever chemicals." She also questioned who is conducting monitoring under the permit: "According to the permit, it's 3M. Well, I'm sorry. That's like the fox guarding the hen house."

City staff and council members described the ordinance as part of ongoing remediation commitments and outlined oversight arrangements. "3M is responsible to show what's being placed in the force main and certainly the city utilities will monitor because they're also responsible for what goes into their system," Mr. Marks said during the council discussion. He and others noted the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) will oversee testing and that work must meet current EPA standards; if standards change, the party discharging the wastewater will be required to meet the new standard.

Council discussed monitoring frequency and reporting requirements; one member asked whether changes to regulatory standards would return the matter to council for review, and staff said they would not expect routine standard changes to come back to the city council, but that concerns could prompt additional review. The ordinance was presented as continuing a remediation process tied to a prior settlement.

The council record shows the motion was made by Mr. McMasters and seconded by Mr. Bullard. Roll-call results as read aloud included recorded ayes for McMasters, Perkins, Horsley and Bullard; the transcript notes one abstention without naming the abstaining member.

Next steps: ordinance 26-46-42 was approved in this session; ADEM oversight and the city utilities' monitoring are expected to govern sampling and reporting under the permit.