Waste problems are well-documented across Lowndes County. This rural, predominantly Black county has been in the national spotlight for more than 20 years, since residents were jailed for failing septic systems. Waste often gets sent by pipe out the back and the hard clay ground makes the cost of a septic system as high as the median annual income.

In White Hall, Alabama, Mayor Delmartre Bethel tells people to be “patient,” as best he can.

“Growing up in a community, and staying in that community, after a while, you start to see, at some point, that things are stagnant,” Bethel said. “The thing that pushed me to step up? I wanted to be part of that change.”

When he’s not leading White Hall, Bethel is taking on his dad’s construction and remodeling business. He also runs a janitorial business serving pediatric offices.

“Nobody should have to live with flushing the toilet and then walking outside and just about walking into everything that came from inside the house,” Bethel said. “Nobody should have to sit at home and decide whether they want to take a shower before they use the restroom, because if they use the restroom first, it may come back up in the shower.”

In 2022, a wastewater package plant came online to serve about 45 homes and the school in White Hall. The nonprofit Communities Unlimited brought technical assistance to the project, under a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“White Hall is now in a much stronger position,” said Bria Hines of Communities Unlimited. “The town has improved its operations, financial organization and long-term planning and is better equipped to meet regulatory expectations and pursue the improvements needed to support its community well into the future.”

Communities Unlimited started by reviewing operations and regulatory requirements for reporting gaps. Hines worked with staff to update records, simplify reporting processes and submit required information. One important step was completing a system survey in White Hall, as well as assisting with USDA funding reconciliation..

Now, White Hall is awaiting engineering for a larger system that would serve more of its nearly 1,000 residents. Communities Unlimited continues to help with policies and procedures, hands-on training, GIS mapping of the system, and a grant application for a new backhoe and police vehicle.

Photo courtesy of Delmarte Bethel

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management approved $450,000 in 2024 through the State Revolving Loan fund to improve wastewater infrastructure and protect families from raw sewage and $716,894 in 2025 from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to replace aging water lines, install a new well and pump, upgrade system valves, and connect residents with contaminated private wells to public water.

These are significant steps, but many residents remain plagued by sewer back-ups and exposure to untreated waste. “We’ve got to come up with a solution and provide it to people,” Bethel said. “People in White Hall, they deserve that respect.”

Bethel’s family isn’t among the lucky ones served by the 2022 wastewater system. “I’ve had problems,” he said. “My neighbors have problems. So it’s been a standing problem for quite some time. I’m glad to know we’re starting to work towards a solution, but we’ve still got a lot more work to do.”

Poor sanitation has led to a third of Lowndes County residents carrying hookworm, the first outbreak of its kind in the modern U.S. Hookworm is a blood-eating parasite that can cause intestinal distress and anemia and affect development. 

A comprehensive waste system in White Hall is estimated to cost $25-45 million. The work will cost about $35,000 per hook-up, due to the area’s challenging soil and geologic conditions. “It’s outrageous but it’s definitely needed now,” Bethel said. “We’ve got a lot of sewage on the ground, so we’ve got to do something.”

Bethel is seeking funding so that White Hall residents can flush their toilets without the waste going into their backyards. Ideally, Bethel said, the high end of that estimate would allow room for growth or even serve some of the small, unincorporated communities a few miles outside of White Hall.

Bethel is working to develop an outdoor community space that can house business incubators. He dreams of the town having a commercial tax base beyond the Dollar General Store.

“I want the town itself to be self-sufficient, and right now, it really has no tax revenue,” he said. He’d also love for the town to have more self-reliance in energy, possibly with a solar grid that could store and provide energy for residents.

Bethel can envision how White Hall – the midpoint in the march from Selma to Montgomery – should attract more than a tiny trickle of the millions of tourists who annually visit the Civil Rights Trail. After all, Bethel loves his “close-knit” hometown, and he wants others to see White Hall as “where Selma meets Montgomery,” as a “small town with big dreams.”

“Just let me know when you come,” he said. “We’ll make sure you’re welcome.”