Tuscaloosa County Oil Spill Draws Federal Attention

By WVUA 23 News Reporter Lacey Beasley

Northport officials held a press conference Tuesday, April 27, to discuss the recent oil spill in Tuscaloosa County and how they plan to move forward.

The oil spill reported near the Huntington Gardens neighborhood over two weeks ago is now drawing state and federal attention.

Residents noticed the oil spill and are concerned.

“When we went to the creek at the end of Palmetto Street, you can see where they have attempted to push earth, rock, and trees over where the giant oil spill was,” said Sam Key, a neighborhood resident.

Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon said the Environmental Protection Agency and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management are running air tests and water tests this week.

The spill was reported near Carroll’s Creek, which flows into Tuscaloosa’s water supply, Lake Tuscaloosa.

Herndon said since this spill is not within Northport’s city limits, it’s “out of their hands.”

“Some folks sometimes want to get on to me or our council people, saying we haven’t done enough,” said Herndon. “Well, it’s not in our city limits. We did what we were supposed to do. We followed the chain of command, and now the feds and the state are handling the situation, and hopefully within the next few days, everything will be cleared up.”

The source of the oil spill has not been confirmed, but Herndon said he will still monitor the situation.

“If it is criminal negligence, then I hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent, but we’ll just try to stay on top of it as much as we can,” he said.

Allegedly, the spill is coming from Burgess Truck and Equipment Repair.

After calling for a comment, the company denied giving one.