A federal judge has lifted the longstanding order requiring Jefferson County to clean up environmental damage caused by its sewer system after significant improvements were made.

U.S. District Court judge David Proctor on Thursday ended the consent decree that brought oversight of the sewer system for nearly 30 years. The issue created not only expensive repairs but led to the county’s bankruptcy and corruption indictments for a group of officials and companies. And higher sewer bills for residents.

The decree was the result of a 1996 lawsuit against the county by the Cahaba River Society and private citizens. They sued Jefferson County for violations, including unpermitted discharge of wastewater containing raw sewage into the Black Warrior and Cahaba Rivers and its tributaries in violation of the Clean Water Act.

The decree contained a multiphase plan of implementing sewer system upgrades and monitoring to bring the system into compliance.

“Jefferson County’s sewer system is now light years ahead of where it was in the 1990s,” said Beth Stewart, former executive director of the Cahaba River Society, who ­­­­­­­worked with the county throughout the consent decree. “Everyone in the county is benefiting from cleaner water quality in our creeks, rivers and neighborhoods because of Jefferson County’s hard work and creative approaches.”

Since the decree both the county and Cahaba River Society, which is represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, cite significant improvements that justify an end to the oversight.

As part of the agreement, the county committed to completing several additional capital improvement projects by early 2027 that are planned and funded to further reduce sewer overflows.

The county has allocated millions in federal ARPA money for various upgrades to its sewer system.

Recently, the county implemented a new notification system where people can sign up to be notified of sewer overflows in their area.

“We are proud of our compliance record to meet and even exceed the requirements of the decree and to achieve this milestone of closing this matter,” said county Attorney T. A. “Theo” Lawson. “Our team has worked very hard to bring this to a conclusion.”

Jefferson County has nine water reclamation facilities that serve about 600,000 citizens, including parts of Shelby and St. Clair counties.

Since 1996, five of the county’s facilities and all the sewer lines leading to them have reached compliance.

The agreement releases the final four sewer basins serving communities in the Valley Creek, Shades Creek, Village Creek, Cahaba, and Five Mile Creek watersheds.

Jefferson County manages more than 3,100 miles of sewer lines and treats more than 100 million gallons of wastewater per day.

“Our sewer system is one of the most important infrastructures that the County provides to both citizens and businesses,” said Commission President Jimmie Stephens. “Our goal was not just to meet the requirements, but exceed them, for the health and welfare of our citizens.”

The consent order for Jefferson County to clean up its sewer system wasn’t without some pain.

The repairs and financing led to more than $3 billion in sewer debt, which was a major cause of the county’s 2011 bankruptcy – at the time the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Corruption surrounding the construction and financing of the sewer system project also led to the conviction of 21 people and five companies in connection with two federal probes.

The county officially exited bankruptcy in 2013.

The county’s agreement with its creditors also has led to higher sewer bills.