[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INADEQUATE WASTEWATER TREATMENT--ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IN AMERICA

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                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 24, 2018

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the 
pervasive and ongoing environmental injustice affecting the citizens of 
the 7th Congressional District of Alabama. Many residents of the Black 
Belt depend on septic tanks for sewage disposal. Because 35-45 percent 
of residents in the Black Belt face poverty, many cannot afford 
spending thousands of dollars on a septic tank and the upkeep it 
requires.
   As a result, many have turned to a far less expensive but more 
alarming alternative: using ``straight pipes'' to transfer human waste 
from the home directly to their backyards. This means that folks going 
for a walk and children playing in their yards are in direct contact 
with sewage and human waste. During heavy rains, these constituents are 
left helpless in defending not only their homes, but their health from 
the effects of raw sewage and human waste. The heavy rains forces waste 
to go back up pipes and back into homes. The issue of inadequate 
wastewater treatment is not just a problem in Alabama. It is a problem 
in communities throughout our country. Additionally, this issue is 
causing dire health consequences. Several studies have identified 
parasites specifically in Lowndes County, Alabama. In our great 
country, the presence of diseases found in third world nations is 
unacceptable. Wastewater management and other environmental concerns 
that exacerbate poverty must be addressed.
   Most recently, the United Nations weighed in on this issue. After 
visiting parts of the Black Belt and other impoverished areas in 
America in December of 2017, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip 
Alston was baffled that such a developed and advanced country like the 
United States could allow its most impoverished to live in such awful 
conditions. The UN report has confirmed what I have known for a long 
time: that inadequate wastewater treatment is a persistent issue in 
poverty stricken communities. I have been working to address this 
problem by helping secure an additional $1.8 billion in funding for 
wastewater infrastructure in addition to introducing the Rural Septic 
Tank Access Act. This Act would provide adequate resources for rural 
families to afford proper septic systems.
   UN Ambassador Nikki Haley publicly stated that the UN report and its 
conclusion about poverty in America was ``patently ridiculous'' and 
questioned why poverty in the U.S. needed to be examined. I personally 
invite Ambassador Haley to my district to witness firsthand the poverty 
and systemic environmental concerns that millions of Americans 
experience and suffer from every single day.
   Our nation cannot boast such greatness if those suffering the most 
are left behind. As a proud product of Selma, I know tenacity and grit 
is commonplace among the great folks of the 7th Congressional District. 
But to be able to overcome obstacles, basic needs must be met and 
health concerns should be addressed. We have no option but to stand 
firm in our fight on the very real and pervasive poverty all over rural 
America and in the area I call home.

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