GADSDEN, Ala.— Conservation groups, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the Gadsden Water Works and Sewer Board have resolved a lawsuit for alleged unpermitted discharges of pollutants and violations of permit terms related to the city of Gadsden’s wastewater-treatment plant and sewer system that enter Neely Henry Lake on the Coosa River and some of its tributaries.

The groups are Coosa Riverkeeper, Advance Etowah, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation.

As part of the agreement, the parties involved in the lawsuit released the following joint statement:

Without admitting liability and in its continuing efforts to provide outstanding service to its customers, GWWSB has agreed to extensive repairs to, more frequent inspections of, and increased maintenance for its sewer system.

GWWSB will also undertake additional engineering analysis to prevent sewage overflow to the extent reasonably feasible. GWWSB has also agreed to pay a civil penalty to the ADEM, pay litigation expenses, and enact a process that is intended to assist eligible residents who are GWWSB customers pay for any necessary repairs to their private lateral sewer pipes that connect their homes to the GWWSB sewer system even though the private laterals are not otherwise the responsibility of GWWSB.

GWWSB has also agreed to provide one-time funding to the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center, which is run by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center breeds and protects endangered fish and shellfish, including some species that reside in the Coosa River, which, as the source water for GWWSB, is important to everyone in the area.

This settlement also resolves a separate federal lawsuit brought by the conservation groups.