Alexander City has literally dug its way out from under a consent decree issued by the Environmental Protection Agency because the chronic overflows in its sewer system have been staunched from a torrent to a trickle.

In 2009, there were 60 reportable sanitary sewage overflows, according to sewer system director John McWhorter, who has been on the job four years. By 2013, those had been cut in half but the EPA still issued the consent decree and fined the city $25,000.