After 2-month pit stop, NYC “poop train” pulls out of Alabama town

April 19, 2018

This April 12, 2018 photo shows containers that were loaded with tons of sewage sludge in Parrish, Ala.

Jay Reeves / AP

An Alabama mayor says the last train car full of New York City sewage sludge that has stunk up her town has finally been emptied and removed. For more than two months, the sludge has blown an unbearable stench throughout the small town of Parrish.

Mayor Heather Hall told CBS affiliate WIAT-TV Wednesday that all of the containers have been emptied. Some are still awaiting shipment back to the northeast U.S.

Good news! The stink trains are gone. A few containers sit empty on the tracks in Parrish, AL. The mayor says they’re waiting to be shipped North.

Welcomed news after months of fighting over the issue. I’ll talk to Mayor Heather Hall at 6 on @CBS_42 https://t.co/o584L1wCdq pic.twitter.com/RdUUKttPER

— Jack Royer (@JackRoyer) April 18, 2018

The sludge is a byproduct of New Yorkers’ excrement. It was shipped to the nearby Big Sky landfill. Hall said after a public outcry, the Norfolk Southern railroad required Big Sky to hire more truck drivers to remove the sludge.

“I don’t think that you can underestimate the power of what a community can do, especially when you can be vocal and stand together. it can get the job done,” Hall said.

Experts say other states send their waste to Alabama due to low landfill fees and lax zoning laws. New York has discontinued shipments for now.

Hall says she believes the waste won’t be returning to the town of Parrish. WIAT’s repeated requests to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for information on where the waste will end up have gone unanswered.