The recent Birmingham News article by John Archibald, “Blount leaves trail through area sewers,” stirred up emotions around St. Clair County.

The article, published May 16, focused on Bill Blount, his role with Alabama Utility Services and how his actions trickled down to the Moody Government Utility Service Corp.

Blount was sentenced to 52 months in prison for deals he made with former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford. Blount, with Montgomery lobbyist Ferrell Patrick, took over AUS last month, which operates GUSC.

Bill Weathington, who was mentioned in the article as saying he was “unaware of Blount’s interest when the deal was done,” said he was unhappy with the article.

“That article contained some facts, some opinion and a lot of spin,” Weathington said.

Weathington said there was no controversy or wrongdoing involved with the sewer system.

“There’s a good operator in place,” Weathington said. “It continues to be a good, sound transaction.”

Despite criticism, Archibald said he stood behind his article and had not heard of any facts being disputed.

“It is a column, so it does have some opinion in there,” Archibald said in an e-mail to the News-Aegis. “There are also a lot of disturbing facts.”

Moody was not the only place affected by Blount and AUS. Argo also discussed  its sewer ordinance at the Town Council meeting on June 3.

Councilman Steve Medori said he wanted to start thinking about other alternatives to using GUSC, if there were any.

“With what I know now, I wouldn’t touch this thing with a 10-foot pole,” Medori said, referencing Archibald’s article.

He suggested the council move slowly and not jump into agreements with the sewer system. However, problems arose because some Argo residents already use GUSC.

“We’re kind of married to them,” said councilman Bill Rutledge.

The council decided to learn more about the matter before moving forward.