The Mobile Baykeeper is hosting a town hall, along with the We Matter Community Association, to update residents on the outdated infrastructure and operational failures of the Prichard Water Works and Sewer Board (PWWSB).
"The people of Prichard deserve clean, affordable water, in spite of any legal cases that might have gone on or any that are yet to come, and those that have charge over that should make sure of it," said Carletta Davis, president of We Matter Community Association.
After decades of mismanagement, John Young was appointed to serve utility customers and support utility employees to ensure the protection of public health. At the same time, Young has been overseeing the utility's financial obligations.
Residents have dealt with water quality issues and loss of a lot of water due to leaky pipes, causing many to buy their water from stores out of concern for their safety.
Cade Kisler, with the Mobile Baykeeper, told 1819 News that a lack of funding has made it impossible to replace a large percentage of water pipes and sewer lines.
"That infrastructure is extremely outdated and is really literally crumbling because of a lack of investment over decades," Kisler said. "And now they've got this huge challenge that they're going to need several hundred million dollars over the next couple of decades and to replace the majority of their water pipes and a huge amount of their sewer lines, as well as a handful of treatment issues and things like that on the wastewater side to get that utility back on its feet."
The Mobile Baykeeper has been tracking activity in two local waterways — Three Mile Creek and Chickasaw Creek — where sewage discharge has caused high levels of bacteria.
"All those sewage spills pretty much go into one or the other of those waterways," Kisler explained. "And again, that's, you know, literally millions, if not tens of millions of gallons a year … which is far and away the most of anybody in Mobile and Baldwin County, and pretty much dwarfs everybody else."
"You know, it's unacceptable," Kisler continued. "It's not right for the citizens of Prichard. It's not right for those of us that want to hunt, fish and swim nearby or downstream."
The town hall will be an opportunity for people to hear updates and ask questions since they are unable to do so regularly.
"It's not kind of the typical structure," he said of the PWWSB. "And so, there's not normal board meetings and things like that. So, we're just making sure there's a venue for people to talk about the problems they're dealing with, the concerns they have and being able to just hear directly from the receiver who's running the utility right now."
The town hall at Sure World Outreach Ministries will be on April 3, at 6 p.m.
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