Jul 29, 2024

Today we're going to take a look at the EPA's plans for Choccolocco Creek area and the pollution below that will decades to clean..

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Ike Morgan

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For years, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Alabama Department of Public Health have warned against eating fish that come out of Choccolocco Creek.

Many sites and waterways in Alabama come with various warnings. But Choccolocco Creek and where it flows into the Coosa River at Logan Martin Lake is among the state's most polluted areas.

It doesn't look like it, either. This isn't a smokestack-lined urban stretch of river that catches fire from time to time. This is gorgeous Alabama country with million-dollar homes nearby.

But a chemical plant run by Monsanto manufactured PCB chemicals from 1929 until 1971. The United States banned PCBs in 1979 because they're one of those "forever chemicals" that don't break down, are known to cause cancer in animals and are believed to be a human carcinogen. You can get them through the skin, but it's believed that people ingest them mostly through eating fish that live and feed in the water.

The plant in question is now run by Solutia, a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Company. It reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2000 that says it will pay contractors to clean up the creek.

What does that involve? AL.com's Dennis Pillion reports that it means a whole lot of digging up land that's industrial and residential -- and dredging Choccolocco Creek into where it joins the Coosa River at Logan Martin.

The EPA's current plan comes in at $85.2 million. It'll likely take decades to dig and dredge out the contaminated soil. 

Justinn Overton is the executive director and staff riverkeeper at Coosa Riverkeeper. She said that among her concerns include the release of PCBs during the work and that enough contamination is removed.

The EPA is taking public comment through Tuesday as it works toward finalizing its plan.

Huntsville 16-year-old Tyler Watts was runner-up Saturday at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township, reports AL.com's Thomas Ashworth.

Watts is a student at Grissom High School, and he's the second Huntsville native to reach the championship match of the U.S. Junior Amateur this decade. Nick Dunlap won the event in 2021. Earlier this year Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years, then turned pro.

Watts' performance earned him an exemption to the U.S. Amateur Championship beginning Aug. 12.

There's currently a tropical disturbance out in the Atlantic that could have us watching the forecasts soon. Right now the models aren't in line with one another, so forecasters ought to know a lot more in a few days. If it were to eventually become Tropical Storm Debby it would break a few weeks of inactivity in the tropics.

Of course, August is often when we see tropical activity kick into gear during a busy Atlantic hurricane season.

Frankly, parts of the state have seen enough rain for now. It's helped keep July temperatures below average on many days, setting a few records for lowest daily high temps. More thunderstorms came through the state yesterday, causing flash flooding in Jefferson, Shelby and Tuscaloosa counties and power outages there and beyond.

The answers and results of Friday's news-review quiz:

A woman who pled guilty to wire fraud was accused of embezzling around $300,000 from a church where she worked as an administrative assistant. According to prosecutors, how did she spend much of that money?

To buy digital gifts for TikTok content creators (CORRECT) 76.4%

On expensive purses 16.1%

On cars for her kids 5.2%

On what is thought to be the largest Stanley cups collection in the U.S. 2.3%

When news of President Joe Biden's decision not to run for re-election broke, former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones quickly endorsed who to replace him?

Kamala Harris (CORRECT) 89.7%

Joe Manchin 5.2%

Michelle Obama 4.6%

Roy Moore 0.6%

This week marked the birthday of Zelda Sayre, who became Zelda Fitzgerald. She was born July 24, 1900 and has been commonly called America's first what:

Flapper (CORRECT) 59.2%

Feminist 32.8%

Influencer 5.7%

Bootlegger 2.3%

Who among Alabama's university presidents has the highest base salary?

UAB's Ray Watts (CORRECT) 54.0%

University of Alabama's Stuart Bell 27.0%

Auburn University's Christopher Roberts 14.9%

Troy University's Jack Hawkins 4.0%

At last weekend's Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, the winner in the shark category is expected to be certified as a state record for its species. What kind of shark are we talking about?

Bull shark (CORRECT) 77.6%

Tiger shark 12.6%

Great white shark 8.6%

Land shark 1.1%

In 1966, former NFL linebacker Jeff Herrod of Birmingham.

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