Did you hear about the train of NYC poop stranded in Alabama?

Yes, I read about it. Reminds me of the NY garbage barge that traveled from port to port in 1987.

Seems much of Alabama feels there shouldn’t be laws restricting waste disposal, until something like this happens.

Sounds like a shitty situation.

Must be a shit-load!

Two more serious questions:

- to get from NY to Alabama, the poop train went through a half dozen states. What are the precautions taken by the railroad and the states in the event that this derails in a populated area? (or for that matter, a river or lake).

- should cities have the legal right to export their shit out of state?

Sounds like the right kind of place to dump your shit.

Should have happened at the White House.

Is anyone investigating who paid off whom to allow this? That would be an interesting story. .

What might they do with it, eventually? Treated sludge (it isn’t just some shit, fresh or otherwise) must be taken somewhere.
Here, the treated waste plant sludge is taken out to remote farm fields and spread about. Fresh shit, like dog (carnivore) shit, is too “hot” to spread on farmland.

I think NYC should fill every inch of Trump Tower with excrement before exporting to other places.

If fault is to be found, I think the finger should point directly at elected officials in Alabama for allowing the import of human waste for profit. You can bet your ass that those poceketing that profit live nowhere near the citizens subjected to the effects. NYC could never get away with shipping the shit upstate.

They use treated human waste up here on closed mine sites for reclamation , don’t know what they do with it down there.

They ship it South where feudal traditions allow profit precedence over public health.

@Zaku If he were paid enough he’d fill every cubic inch of that tower.

Waste sludge can be converted into biogas in an Anerobic digester or burned for heat in a Specifically designed sludge incinerator.

Imagine how much more effort would be put into reducing waste if you had to keep it within the borders of the state in which it was generated.

Other questions I have: Is it actually sewage waste or is it some other form of biowaste, such as medical waste? If it is actually sewage waste, why not land apply?

I think it is vitally important that we consider the implications of the poop train on just how our society is ordered and the actual consequences of what appears to be “free enterprise”. The train is just another stark example of how the privileged prosper and thrive at the direct and demonstrable expense of those at the bottom. Those opposed to the evils of onerous government regulation should give some thought to what happens when a region despised for its heavy handed regulatory practices exploits the comparatively loose restrictions in less prosperous places. It should come as no surprise that just as the wealth concentrates at the top in our society, the shit is directed to pile up at the bottom. The South has been a model for a couple of hundred years now for an economic sort of crime wave whose blight is coming to define rural America in general. l know folks here tire of me harping on this kind of stuff. There was a time when I never gave these things any thought, but it’s time we ALL start thinking about what’s happening to us. Why is it, for example, that some of the most desperately poor people in states like West Virginia and Kentucky live atop land where hundreds of billions of dollars have been extracted. What happens to the money?

@stanleybmanly I don’t get the rich/poor aspect of this. I do get the overpopulated city/rural area aspect. But I“m pretty sure this isn’t all rich people poop. And I’m equally sure that it was the Public Utilities of NY and NJ that have a contract to get rid of their waste through certain carriers. Meanwhile, the company in AL is making lots of money for themselves and their people by processing this waste.
As for rich/poor….it is a fact of human nature. It has been that way throughout our history. And not just the history of this nation. Mankind has always had the haves and the have-nots. If you were to gather all the money of the world and split it up amongst the inhabitants of this world equally, within a few years you would start seeing the haves and the have-nots forming up again. Why are you so upset by what amounts to human nature?

My complaint and the poop train itself are indeed about human nature. It is human nature to exploit one another, no doubt about it. My point is that it is increasingly obvious that the viability of a society depends greatly on its success in keeping such tendencies in check. Of course the train from NYC carries the poop of rich and poor alike. But here’s the deal. The people of NYC rich and poor alike are relieved of their poop problems through the exploitation of the people of Alabama. The state of New York prohibits the city from unloading its poop within the rural areas of the state itself, so regardless of your poverty, you will not find a poop train stranded in your back yard as a resident of New York. Which of the 2 states would you gauge as better at seeing to the welfare of its residents? In which state would you imagine the poor to be better off? Why is it illegal to import poop in New York, while an entrepreneurial opportunity for a select few in Alabama? Is the imported poop a net benefit to the people of Alabama?

I hadn’t heard about this specific incident; but NYC does things like this several times a year. I live on the Southern east coast & they frequently send excess barge shipments to my state in order to get it out of theirs. They pay dearly for the right to “use” us for their dumping ground. At one point the citizens of the state had such a hissy fit that I think the powers that be are now refusing anymore shipments or they are hiding it better. NYC also gives their homeless population a one way bus ticket to the larger cities in my state. The homeless don’t care cuz the winters here are mild compared to NYC winters & we don’t allow them to starve. I personally feel these practices should be illegal & feel any state representatives who agree to such should be barred from office!!! When I discover who voted “yes” on such, I vote for the other person running at the next election.

@stanleybmanly And that is where you lose me. In Alabama, there is a company that has the facilities to deal with this waste. Class A waste is not as big a health hazard as you might think. It has to meet specific criteria showing that bacteria counts (such as fecal coliform) are below set standards. It has to meet this before it can be loaded on a train. So a waste water treatment facility in NY is processing this material, turning it into what amounts to fertilizer, and then ships it to a company in Alabama that operates to meet federal EPA regulations as well as state laws. It employs a number of people so it is a boost for their economy. And you can bet they are overcharging NYC for disposal fees, helping their economy even further. So the overpopulated NYC gets rid of waste they have created and a company in Alabama benefits from it. I still don’t see where this is a rich/poor thing. If NYC was smart, they would actually push for establishing a disposal site within their own state boundaries to keep the money and jobs there, but eventually, it all needs to be gotten rid of.

So NYC poop is a net benefit to the people of Alabama? And the people of the state of New York choose not to reap the benefits, but cede the privilege to the clever Alabamans?

I like the idea, mentioned earlier by @SQUEEKY2, of filling old mine shafts with the stuff.

Look, kids! Here comes the Poo-Poo Train!