BY SARAH STEPHENS, OWNER/EDITOR
A claim on a Facebook chat page that raw sewage was running from a manhole on Main Street in Millbrook has been proven false, but only after a complaint was also made to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
The post appeared on an Un-Cut page, featuring a photo of the manhole, claiming raw sewage was spewing forth. The poster said they talked to a city employee about it at the time.
When we learned of the allegation, the EAN called Michael Harris, the Department Head for Millbrook Utilities. We learned that the manhole in that location is actually owned by Bell South, and it is used to access underground phone lines. The liquid in that area was rainwater, and ground water seeping up from the high amount of rainfall in our area recently.
Harris located the city employee who talked with the original poster, and learned that the employee made it clear to the person that this was not sewage.
ADEM made contact with Harris regarding the accusation, but it was quickly verified the initial post and claim of raw sewage was false.
An ADEM official called the EAN a short time ago, and verified there is no further investigation warranted.
“It caused us a lot of headaches today, that is for sure,” Harris said.
A simple phone call to the Utility Department could have settled this easily, but instead the false accusation was put on social media. The post has since been removed.
We reached out to the original poster of the comment, but they have not responded.
This is a great time to remind everyone that social media can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the keyboard warrior behind it. Verify, authenticate and make sure that information you are sharing is accurate.
