There is no brook behind Marilyn Rudolph's house.
A stained pipe juts out of the ground 30 feet behind her modest, well-maintained house, which is why it's called the "House of Wastewater". Black is one of thousands of poor people in rural Alabama who use a homemade sewage system known as a straight pipe, which is a rudimentary, unsanitary and notorious homemade sewage system.
I have never seen anything like that before. It is like living with an outhouse for Ms. Rudolph and her boyfriend Lee Thomas, who moved in with her three years ago from Cleveland.
Ms. Rudolph said that she had lived with it all her life.
Alabama's Black Belt is named for the soil that once made it a center of slave-labor cotton production, and if the $1 trillion infrastructure act signed by President Biden in November is any indication, it will see transformational benefits. Three-quarters of the population are black in 17 counties stretching from Georgia to Mississippi.
The infrastructure law allocates about $55 billion to upgrade systems around the country that handle drinking water, wastewater and stormwater, including $25 billion to replace failing drinking-water systems in cities like Jackson, Miss.
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The infrastructure package targets funding toward "disadvantaged" areas like Hayneville and surrounding towns, part of the Biden administration's goal of redressing structural racism.
The other end of the pipe has been neglected, with $11.7 billion in new funding to upgrade municipal sewer and drainage systems, septic tanks, and clustered systems for small communities. It is a lot of cash that could transform the quality of life and economic prospects for impoverished communities in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan and many tribal areas.
Helenor Bell, the former mayor of Hayneville in Lowndes County, said that the funding represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally make things right.
The funding is likely to lead to improvements, but there are no guarantees that it will help communities that lack the political power or the tax base to employ even the few employees needed to fill out applications for federal aid.
Catherine Coleman Flowers is a MacArthur fellow and author of the book "Waste". Without federal intervention, we wouldn't have voting rights. Without federal intervention, we won't have equity.
A professor at the University of Alabama is working with an academic group to design a waste system that is better for the region. He was concerned that more affluent parts of the state might snatch federal assistance intended for the poor.
The money should go to the people who need it the most, not to subsidize the water bills of wealthy communities. These people need help, anditation is a human right.
Straight pipes are just one part of a breakdown of antiquated septic tanks, inadequate storm sewers and poorly maintained municipal systems that leave lawns covered in foul-smelling wastewater after even a light rainstorm.
Hayneville and the surrounding towns are part of the Biden administration's goal of fixing structural racism. The infrastructure package gives states broad latitude in how to allocate the funding, and it doesn't have any new enforcement mechanisms once the money is out the door.
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A pipe behind Ms. Rudolph's house discharges raw wastewater whenever someone uses the toilet or runs the washing machine.
The wastewater funding is moving through an existing federal-state loan program that typically requires partial or complete repayment, but under the new legislation, local governments with negligible tax bases will not have to pay back what they borrow. The state contribution was cut from 20 percent to 10 percent.
The wastewater part of the bill is just as important as the drinking water part, according to Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, who helped draft the provisions after assisting two small cities in her state, Cahokia Heights and Cairo, upgrade failing sewer.
In November, the EPA said it would give $7.4 billion to states in the first phase of funding for drinking water and wastewater projects.
Biden administration officials are confident that the new spending will be enough to ensure that poor communities get their fair share of clean water funding.
The way E.P.A. and states work together to ensure overburdened communities have access to resources is being changed.
The guidelines will not be ready until late 2022.
A study done by the Environmental Policy Innovation Center and the University of Michigan found that many states were less likely to use revolving loan funds for poor communities with larger minority populations.
The revolving loan fund has only financed one project in this part of the state in the last few years.
The water funding in Alabama is not likely to be divvied up until later this year. The Republican-controlled state legislature is still negotiating with the governor over what to do with tens of millions of dollars in federal funds.
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The yard in Hayneville was flooded in 2019. Straight pipes are just one part of an infrastructure breakdown.
Legislators from bigger, more powerful communities in the state have already begun preparing their applications to run in next year's election.
Over the years, the state government has done little to address the problem. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was cited by the Justice Department as the reason for opening an investigation into allegations that Alabama had discriminated against Black residents.
One of the most significant recent efforts to address the problem came from the work of a top state health department official. Sherry Bradley received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $400,000 from the state to create a demonstration project to install more than 100 modern septic systems.
Improvements in the town of White Hall in Lowndes have been disconnected from a larger plan to address the problem.
Biden administration officials said the infrastructure bill should change that. Slowly, efforts are being made to create a more comprehensive approach. Representative Terri A. Sewell, an Alabama Democrat who represents a majority Black district, has begun reaching out to local officials to put together a list of projects to prioritize.
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Most of the hamlet's houses use straight pipes to dump into the creek.
The hamlet of Yellow Bluff, a scattering of 67 double-wide trailers, shacks and cinder block houses under the smokestacks of a massive paper plant is something Mr.Elliott is interested in. Most of the hamlets houses use straight pipes to dump into the creek, and Mr. Elliott believes Yellow Bluff could benefit from installing a small, clustered septic system.
There is a deep sense of skepticism among local residents and activists who are weary of escorting reporters and academics on poverty tours.
Ms. Flowers is not sure if the state will execute any wastewater and stormwater projects well, so she is pushing officials and other community leaders to demand extended warranties.
She said that living with this situation has a profound psychological impact on the people. It makes them feel left behind and discounted.
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Helenor Bell, the former mayor of Hayneville, said that the funding represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally make things right.
One of the few people who were willing to talk about their straight pipe system was Ms. Rudolph, who lives outside of Hayneville in the tiny town of Tyler.
Ms. Rudolph said it was important for people to see how hard she worked to keep the pipe clean. She wanted outsiders to understand the hardship of it all.
The toilet paper cannot be put in the toilet like other people. We have to throw it away.
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