TEN MILLION POUNDS OF biowaste has been sitting in more than 200 abandoned rail cars in Alabama for almost two months.
The small town of Parrish, Alabama is home to nearly 1,000 residents who say the stench from waste is wafting through the air, CNN reported, and it “smells like dead bodies,” one resident told WVTM13. However, the waste does not belong to Parrish’s residents.
A New Jersey and multiple New York waste management companies have been shipping the biowaste to Big Sky Environmental, a private landfill in Adamsville, Alabama, which has been operating a solid waste disposal facility. In January, however, the nearby town of West Jeffersonfiled an injunction to stop the waste from being stored in the rail yard.
After the town won its injunction, the sludge was moved to Parrish, where there are no zoning laws to prevent it from being stored there.
Parrish Mayor Heather Hall told CNN the situation is “so frustrating,” but she is doing everything she can to get the waste out of her town, including meeting with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
“They’re trying to work behind the scenes to get us a little bit of help, but we’ve been told that for weeks, and there’s still no solution,” Hall said. “It greatly reduces the quality of life. You can’t sit out on your porch. Kids can’t go outside and play, and God help us if it gets hot and this material is still out here.”
Not only is the stench a concern for residents, but they worry about public health issues. However, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management have both told Hall because the material is Grade A biowaste and not raw sewage, it isn’t dangerous, according to CNN.
By Alexa Lardieri, Staff Writer for usnews.com