Residents and Activists Oppose ABC Coke Air Permit
Jimmy Smith, an 86-year-old Collegeville retiree, held an 8×10 framed photograph of his four daughters in his hand when he stood Thursday to ask the Jefferson County Department of Health not to renew an air emissions permit for ABC Coke.
He says his oldest daughter died of cancer and another daughter gets cancer treatments twice a month. He’s also a cancer survivor and a survivor of a community he says has been plagued with pollution for years.
“Ya’ll can deny this permit, and I promise you they will get the message. They will clean up their act,” he says.
Smith showed environmental test results that indicate 15 hazardous substances on his property.
He was among about eight speakers at the first hearing Thursday on whether to renew the emissions permit for ABC Coke. Companies with air emissions are required to have permits renewed every four or five years, the health department says.
About 40 people attended, including several who rode a bus from north Birmingham, an effort organized by Birmingham City Councilman William Parker.
Interest is heightened on the renewal of the ABC Coke permit. The company is owned by Drummond, which was at the center of a corruption trial involving a former state lawmaker, a company executive, and a lawyer. They conspired to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s cleanup efforts in the area.
Charlie Mack Powell, president of the environmental group PANIC or People Against Neighborhood Industrial Contamination, also spoke at the hearing.
Powell says people who live in the area with high soil contamination should be offered fair market value for their homes so that they can relocate.
“The plant ain’t moving,” he says.
Nelson Brooke, a board member with the environmental watchdog group GASP, wants the health department to require more stringent regulations on ABC Coke emissions and to protect the residents.
The health department will review the comments from the hearings and send the information to the EPA.
Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes
A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.
Crew of fatal US military crash included Alabama father recently deployed
The six U.S. service members who died in the crash of a U.S. military refueling aircraft included an Alabama father who had just been promoted and deployed. The U.S. government released the identities of the deceased service members Saturday.
Israeli soldiers fire on family car in occupied West Bank, killing 4
Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people including two children, the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry said.
U.S. military names six killed in plane crash as Iran war enters third week
The conflict in the Middle East has entered a third week, with Israel announcing a barrage of new strikes on western Iran on Sunday, while the U.S. defense department released the names of six service members who died when their military refueling aircraft crashed.
Alabama poised to drastically overhaul utility regulation. Will it lower electric bills?
The Alabama Senate unanimously voted to expand the public service commission, and create a Secretary of Energy to address rising electricity prices. A bill in the House would go even further, requiring rate case hearings and limiting utility profits.
Sunday Puzzle: BAD!
Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with KCUR listener Justin Marciniak and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.
