Residents and Activists Oppose ABC Coke Air Permit

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/11/IMG_32631-e1542329609988.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1076;s:6:"height";i:608;s:4:"file";s:36:"2018/11/IMG_32631-e1542329609988.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-336x190.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:190;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-771x436.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:436;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-768x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:34:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-550x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:550;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:36:"IMG_32631-e1542329609988-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Sherrel Wheeler Stewart
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM 90.3 FM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:10:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:1080;s:6:"height";i:1440;s:4:"file";s:13:"IMG_32631.jpg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-336x252.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:252;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-771x578.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:578;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"IMG_32631-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-300x300.jpg";s:5:"width";i:300;s:6:"height";i:300;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-415x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:415;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-353x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:353;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"IMG_32631-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:1:{s:4:"full";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:28:"The file could not be saved.";}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:0;s:14:"optimized_size";i:0;s:7:"percent";i:0;}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => error
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

)
1664215857 
1542308069

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.

Residents and environmental activists have complained for decades about air quality in the  industrial corridor around north Birmingham.

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.

 

At U.N., amid jeers and cheers, Netanyahu says Israel ‘must finish the job’ in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister's speech was defiant, despite his growing international isolation over his refusal to end the devastating war to eradicate Hamas.

Gulf South pharmacies make their own rules amid confusing COVID guidance: ‘It’s clear as mud’

Unclear rules and inconsistent interpretations of federal and state COVID-19 vaccination rules leave families confused and vulnerable patients unprotected.

Cellist Joshua Roman’s journey from long COVID back to the stage

Since childhood, Joshua Roman's life revolved around the cello. But when long COVID forced him to set his cello aside, he had to rethink his approach to life, faith and music.

Asheville hopes for a big fall tourist season to boost its post Helene economy

As October brings vivid mountain colors, the post Helene hospitality industry in Asheville, North Carolina hopes for a big return of tourists.

There was no rapture this week, so the quiz returns. Can you score a perfect 11?

This week, Jimmy Kimmel returned, a weird statue vanished and no one (to our knowledge) got snatched up to heaven.

Trump’s Tylenol warning echoes past misconceptions about mothers and autism

Medical scholars say, efforts to find a singular cause for autism has historically led to scrutinizing parents and fueling stigma about autism

More ABC Coke Coverage