The Unknown Future of Lowndes County, Alabama
By Erika Pietrzak, July 23 , 2025
In Lowndes County, Alabama, raw sewage still floods yards and schools, mostly in Black communities. A federal plan to fix this injustice was recently revoked—putting families’ health and dignity at risk again.
Source: Newsweek
For years, residents of Lowndes County, Alabama, have complained of failing sanitation and sewage systems that have created public health concerns across the county, affecting both spaces inside homes, and public spaces. Despite the horrific realities faced by hundreds of residents, state officials did not understand the gravity of the detrimental health impacts caused by neglecting the county’s sanitation systems. In 2017, the United Nations visited Lowndes County, southwest of Montgomery, and declared the situation “a result of racism and the demonization of the poor.”
During the Biden administration, a landmark civil rights settlement was enacted, requiring Alabama to address raw sewage pollution in majority-Black residential areas. This settlement was the first time in the United States that federal civil rights laws were used to alleviate environmental injustices. This came after residents had experienced untreated sewage flooding into their backyards due to failing, outdated septic tanks and a general lack of adequate sanitation infrastructure. A federal investigation exposed that generations of Black residents had gone without basic sanitation services. Raw, untreated sewage has historically impacted playgrounds and schools across the county, posing serious health risks to children.
The initial reaction to this public health crisis from Alabama politicians was to threaten residents to install new systems or risk criminal penalties and property seizure, which many residents could not afford, as the poverty rate of the area sits at about 30 percent. These threats were not in vain and resulted in the arrest of several residents who could not afford the newly required systems. The Biden administration’s settlement found environmental injustice to be the reason for this sewage issue that disproportionately impacted Black residents. The area’s population is over 70 percent Black, with 80 percent of the community’s septic systems failing, affecting over 300 families.
In April, the Trump administration axed this settlement just two years after its creation, labelling the agreement as an “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measure. The Administration’s tactic follows a broader pattern of targeting programs designed to support marginalized communities. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) claims this settlement had nothing to do with DEI, but stood for “basic human rights, basic rights to water, basic rights to sanitation.” The director of SELC went on to say, “Revoking [aid] promises based on disfavored buzz words is arbitrary, inhumane, and ignores the substance and purposes of the Agreement.”
This change could force Black residents southwest of Montgomery to live in areas with failing utilities. The settlement was starting to address this by providing desperately needed assistance to re-route sewage lines and build sanitation infrastructure. Most homes are not connected to municipal lines, and the clay-like soil in the area has poor water drainage. This means that new systems, different from traditional septic tanks, must be built to increase drainage to avoid continued damage. The state health department has promised to continue providing aid for the situation, but with funds threatened this aid is in danger. Alabama’s goal of installing sixty septic tank systems by 2026 is particularly at risk as this initiative was largely funded by federal dollars.
The health of Lownde County’s residents is also at great risk as a result of the settlement’s dismantling. In 2017, hookworm was found in the area, and in 2021, a federal investigation found that local officials “failed to take meaningful actions to remedy these conditions,” leaving residents to fend for themselves. The end of this agreement also means the defunding of educational public health campaigns and comprehensive assessments in the area that were addressing the crisis. This could worsen existing poor health conditions experienced by Lownde County’s residents, and diminish local support used to address the issue.
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