FORT DEPOSIT, Ala. — In a visit to her childhood home, Gabrielle McPherson points out its sagging floors and a cracked roof in the laundry room. It is in need of significant repairs, but her family’s biggest concern is the plumbing.
This house is one of many in this Lowndes County neighborhood that pumps untreated raw sewage into the environment through a process known as straight piping, which sometimes results in pools of it building up on residents’ lawns. The yard occasionally produces a strong, unbearable odor that intensifies during the summer. It’s common for sinks and toilets to clog when it rains.
The decades-long problem has drawn nationwide attention for its health risks, and residents of this predominantly Black, rural county don’t trust that the problem is getting better anytime soon.