Near Little League ball fields in Parrish, Alabama, a small town that has the population of only 982 people is suffering right now. For more than two months, there has been abandoned cargo that came from New York City, left on the tracks. This abandoned cargo is nothing but a “poop train” according to NBC News.

Parrish, Alabama was delivered a poop-train

The mayor of the town, Heather Hall, has complained about the smell, especially when the heat is at it’s highest. Softball games are being rescheduled, as are any other games that would have to take place on the ball fields next to the train tracks.

The town is trying to do anything it can to deter from smelling the horrendous smell of human waste. Sherleen Pike told NBC News that she dabs peppermint oil under her nose, especially since she lives about half a mile from the abandoned cargo. This stinky poop-train is destined for the Big Sky landfill, which is where New York City has been sending their human waste for a year now. The smelly shipment became abandoned once trains transferred cargo in West Jefferson. West Jefferson had court orders protecting the town from allowing the waste to enter through it back in January and the poopy cargo has been sitting still ever since. Many citizens are worried that the abandoned poop is a health problem.

Hall told CNN that the Environmental Protection Agency claims that the waste it not harmful due to it being a biowaste, but there are still concerns from those who suffer from breathing problems or from a fly going from the cargo to a person’s home. Hall was also stated that filing an injunction would also not be in the best interest of the town of Parrish due to the issue that the poopy cargo would be sitting in the same spot until the end of the court dispute.

So, now what?

For now, New York City has halted any shipment of human waste to Alabama, but the reason NYC sends away their human waste is that the federal government banned any kind of disposal in the Atlantic Ocean back in the 1980s. It is not new news for the Southern states to accept the waste of other states in the United States.

Alabama was described as “America’s Pay Toilet” due to occupying the largest dump sites for hazardous waste since 1977, according to NBC News. The most hazardous waste the landfill ever took in one year was almost 800,000 tons. Since summer is creeping up pretty quickly, and the south is known for its warmer weather, the mayor of Parrish is hoping the poop-train makes its destination soon. While there may be many different reasons that may be of importance behind shipping hazardous waste to the south, the whole waste industry grosses yearly more than $93 billion. Even though the citizens may not like the smell, the poop industry is booming.