Tag: Environment
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.
Landfill Fire Annoying Residents More Than 20 Miles Away ‘Contained,’ Evacuated Residents Allowed to Return
Residents of five homes in Moody that had been evacuated were given the “all clear” to return home as the Moody Fire Department determined that a landfill fire that has been burning largely underground has been contained.
The fire is burning at Blackjack Road from Carrington Lake Parkway to Annie Lee Road at a landfill that disposes of trees and other debris.
Persons living as far away as Birmingham’s Crestwood neighborhood complained of smelling smoke and even having smoke invade their homes.
When material burns underground, there is a cavity and soil falls away. “It can create a fissure or a hole and then we have smoke or steam coming up through that,” Moody Fire Marshal James Mulkey said. “Then the smoke is going to come up into the air. You can smell this for miles.”
The above-ground part of the fire has been plainly visible from several miles away. Read more.
Alabama’s Hunting 101 Workshops Target Newcomers — and Conservation Dollars
State leaders hope to reverse a decades-long decline in hunting participation rates and secure more funding for wildlife restoration. Read more.
Outdoorsy Black Women Helps Change the Face of Outdoor Activities
Outdoorsy Black Women is a national organization with more than 3,000 members across the country. The Birmingham chapter began in early 2022 and it already has 160 members. Read more.
Army Corps Studying Dams, Fish Flow in Alabama River
The Army Corps of Engineers is in year one of a three-year study of possible ways to get fish around two dams on the Alabama river – the Millers Ferry Lock and Dam, southwest of Selma, and the Claiborne Lock and Dam, northwest of Monroeville. “The basic idea is to restore a fish passage to the lower Alabama River and to connect the Cahaba River to allow the passage of fish naturally up the Alabama River into the Cahaba River, as was historically the case,” said Paul Johnson, program supervisor at the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center. Read more.
Scottsboro is home to the largest gray bat summer cave. They’re leaving for the winter
At Sauta Cave anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 gray bats emerge to feast on insects. It’s thought to be the largest emergence of bats east of the Mississippi River, a spectacle that draws curious onlookers from across Alabama. Read more.
The Supreme Court’s EPA Decision Could Hamper Regulators’ Ability to Protect the Public
The agency will still be allowed to regulate many forms of air pollution but would need explicit direction from Congress on how to tackle some of the worst aspects of climate change and other pressing issues. Read more.
Supreme Court Backs Move to Protect Land Around Water Source
The Alabama Supreme Court has sided with environmentalists who say the Birmingham Water Works Board is not abiding by a court order to protect land around Lake Purdy and parts of the Cahaba River, which are the largest source of drinking water in the Birmingham area.
The Supreme Court overturned an earlier court ruling that sided with the board and sent the case back to the circuit court. Read more.
Jefferson County Enlists Zoning Officials in Battle Against ‘Poop Trains,’ Littering
The Jefferson County commissioners Thursday enlisted the aid of county personnel to fight illegal dumping, littering and violations involving “poop trains” in the county.
And those they enlisted are already on the frontlines.
“We designated the sanitation and ordinance inspectors, the zoning inspectors, the zoning supervisor and the zoning administrator as solid waste officers,” County Attorney Theo Lawson said. “By being designated as solid waste officers, that then gives them the authority under the code to write citations for criminal littering. Those folks are now able to enforce criminal littering through issuing citations. That should be a huge increase in our folks’ ability to enforce criminal littering.” Read more.
