Suit alleges city failed to act on repeated warnings, has operated illegal dump at city shop since at least 2019
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) has gone to court against the City of Marion, alleging the city ignored a 2024 order to shut down and clean up an unauthorized dump site at the city shop on Henry Street and to pay a $12,000 civil penalty.
Court Filing and Allegations
In a complaint filed January 21 in Perry County Circuit Court, ADEM alleges that Marion is responsible for creating and operating an unauthorized solid-waste dump on city-owned property identified as Parcel 53-13-06-24-0-004-044.002, located off Henry Street.
The suit asks a judge to order the city into compliance with state solid-waste regulations, to enforce ADEM Administrative Order 24-090-SW issued last summer, and to impose the maximum civil penalties allowed by law, including the unpaid $12,000 already assessed.
2024 Administrative Order
According to the court filing, ADEM first cited the Henry Street site in July 2024 with Administrative Order 24-090-SW, which followed years of inspections and warnings. That order required Marion to:
- Stop using the site
- Submit a closure plan within 30 days
- Carry out cleanup under a schedule approved by ADEM
- Secure the property to prevent future dumping
- Pay the $12,000 civil penalty within 45 days
The complaint states the order was served on the city by certified mail on July 18, 2024, and that Marion did not appeal it to the Environmental Management Commission, making it final and not subject to further administrative review.
Alleged Failure to Comply
Instead, ADEM says the city failed to pay the penalty and has not met the requirements of the order, leaving the Henry Street dump in place and in violation of state solid-waste regulations.
“The City of Marion’s failure to comply with the terms and requirements of ADEM Administrative Order No. 24-090-SW and applicable ADEM regulations has resulted in a continuing threat to public health and the environment,” the complaint states.
History of the Henry Street Dump Site
The administrative order attached to the lawsuit describes the Henry Street property as a long-running unauthorized dump where city trucks and others brought garbage and debris for years.
ADEM inspectors first visited the site in February 2019 after receiving a complaint and reported seeing an “unpermitted solid waste disposal area” where Marion was “improperly disposing of regulated solid waste materials.” Materials included:
- Household trash
- Construction and demolition debris
- Rubbish
- Roofing shingles
At that time, inspectors estimated approximately 1,800 cubic yards of waste had been dumped without a landfill permit.
Inspections and Violations Over Time
ADEM issued a Notice of Violation to the city in March 2019. Over the next several years, multiple follow-up inspections documented that while some material was removed at times, significant amounts of regulated waste remained, and in some cases had been burned.
- A March 2021 inspection found:
- Approximately 288 cubic yards of burned waste
- 40 cubic yards of scrap metal and miscellaneous debris
- 25 scrap tires
- A later inspection in December 2022 reported an estimated 19,714 cubic yards of household waste, appliances, construction and demolition debris, rubbish, cardboard, and scrap metal mixed with tree debris spread over roughly an acre.
By July and September 2023, ADEM inspectors still reported thousands of cubic yards of mixed garbage and debris at the Henry Street site, including household trash, demolition waste, scrap metal, electrical wiring, and tree waste, with charred areas indicating burning.
ADEM Findings and Characterization
In its 2024 administrative order, ADEM characterized the unauthorized dump as:
“Inherently a public nuisance, a threat to public health, and a threat to the environment.”
The order stated the city had shown “a pattern of allowing the inappropriate improper disposal of regulated solid waste on the Site.” It also noted that Marion had not demonstrated an inability to pay the $12,000 penalty.
Relief Sought by the Lawsuit
The new lawsuit asks the court to:
- Temporarily and permanently enjoin Marion from continuing to violate the 2024 order and state solid-waste laws
- Force the city to submit and carry out the required closure plan and documentation
- Assess the maximum additional penalties allowed by state law, in addition to the unpaid $12,000 civil penalty
- Award court costs
