Category: Environment
No Water Contamination Found From Landfill Fire
This Swampy Paradise is Alabama’s Winter Haven for Sandhill Cranes
As many as 25,000 sandhill cranes migrate to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge every winter, along with a handful of highly endangered whooping cranes. Read more.
Moody Landfill Fire Now a Federal Affair as EPA Is Called in to Extinguish Nuisance
The landfill fire in Moody is now a federal affair. At the request of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will lead the effort to put out the underground fire at a privately operated vegetative waste disposal site near Moody in St. Clair County, the agency said in a press release Wednesday. Read more.
‘Is It Soup Yet?’: Engineer Submitting Plans for Putting Out Landfill Fire
Dan Dahlke was reminded of a 1970s TV commercial when he was asked about his submission to Gov. Kay Ivey to put out the months-long smoldering landfill fire in Moody.
“Is it soup yet?”
“It’s getting there,” the St. Clair County engineer said Friday. “I’ve sent stuff over to the county attorney and I think he’s putting it all together and trying to figure out exactly who we need to send this to (in) the governor’s office.
“When he finds that, we’ll probably shoot this off to whoever this afternoon.”
Dahlke has received proposals from a number of contractors with varied ideas for dealing with the fire that has been burning for about two months and irritating residents as far as 30 miles away. Residents have been complaining not just about the smell and the smoke, but about health effects such as asthma, coughing and nausea. Read more.
Lawsuit Filed Over Landfill Fire Near Moody Seeks Class Action Status
A pair of Trussville residents have filed a lawsuit over the landfill fire that’s been burning for almost two months near Moody. The suit alleges, among other claims, the owners and operators of Environmental Landfill Inc. have been negligent and calls for compensatory and punitive damages. Read more.
Plan to Put Out Underground Landfill Fire in the Works
Dan Dahlke is preparing a package to send to Montgomery that he hopes contains the cure to what ails residents who have suffered from the smoke of a Moody landfill fire that’s been smoldering since November.
“This has gone on way too long already,” said Dahlke, the St. Clair County engineer. “That’s sort of my feeling but, regardless of that, I want to make sure whatever we send to the state, I want to feel as positive as I can be that we’re not gonna create a bigger problem.”
Speaking with BirminghamWatch on Wednesday, Dahlke said he is still awaiting some information and getting things together to send to state officials. He hopes to have the plans together by the end of the week to send to the state. Read more.
Related: Lawsuit Filed Over Landfill Fire Near Moody Seeks Class Action Status
In the Fight for Environmental Justice, Birmingham Tells Jackson to Stay Loud
Gulf States communities have been living in contaminated environments for years. Jackson and Birmingham residents share strategies that can help. Read more.
St. Clair County Declares State of Emergency to Address Smoldering Landfill in Moody
In an emergency meeting Tuesday, the St. Clair County Commission declared a state of emergency to deal with the underground landfill fire that’s been smoldering for more than a month, annoying and aggravating residents from as far as 30 miles away.
The commission action put wheels in motion for a plan to put out the fire at the environmental landfill in Moody and seek funds through the state to pay for it. Fighting the fire is complicated by the fire burning underground and then breaking through at multiple locations on the surface.
A packed commission chamber saw the panel go into executive session to be briefed on possible litigation that could come as a result of the action. After 15 minutes away from the crowd and then instruction from County Attorney Jim Hill, the commission unanimously approved the resolution to address the matter. Read more.
Underground Landfill Fire Still Contained but Smoke Persists
James Mulkey was among some folks from Moody who went shopping for Christmas gifts Tuesday. As they returned, they happened by the White’s Chapel area, where a landfill fire has been the source of smoke since November.
Because of the wind, they weren’t greeted by the smell of smoke. But this too will pass.
“If you smelled anything at all, it was very, very little,” said Mulkey, the Moody fire marshal. “I imagine this morning with the change in wind direction that that (smell) got a lot worse at that same intersection.”
The Moody Fire Department updated residents about the status of the landfill fire that is producing smoke that’s irritating residents as far as 20 miles away. That department’s Facebook post said no change in fire activity has been noted and all burning is still contained within the fire break.
“Smoke continues to discharge from both the heavy fuels on top of the ground and from holes and cracks from the underground portion of the fire,” the post read. “The smoke does seem to be a little heavier than in previous days on the north end of the incident.” Read more.
Workers Across America, and in Alabama, Break Their Silence on Decades of Asbestos Exposure
New accounts from workers contrast sharply with what chemical giants have said on the record about worker safety at their facilities. At an Olin plant outside of McIntosh, Alabama, workers recall decades of continuing asbestos exposure.
When LaTunja Caster started working at the Olin Corp. chemical plant outside of McIntosh, Alabama, she had no idea that asbestos was used in the production process. But when she became a union safety representative around 2007, she started to pay attention. In certain parts of the plant, “you would see it all the time,” she said. “You definitely breathed it in.”
Six other people who worked in the plant, some with experiences as recent as this year, echoed her recollections about exposure to the potent mineral that has long been known to cause deadly cancers like mesothelioma and a chronic lung condition called asbestosis that can make it difficult to breathe.
Though designated asbestos workers were given protective gear and had special training, electricians, millwrights and general maintenance staff got no comparable protection even though they, too, were exposed, they told ProPublica. Read more.
