Tag Archives: CSX

U.S. EPA, GA DNR, GA Health Dept., and landfill in Lowndes County @ EPA 2013-11-14

At the

EPA meeting in Waycross about the Seven Out Superfund site,
EPA, GA EPD, and state health officials also had information about
crossover contamination in Lowndes County.

Matthew J. Huyser, On-Scene Coordinator for U.S. EPA,
told me that before

EPA shipped those 196,500 gallons of wastewater from Seven Out to the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County
they had applied procedures that were supposed to ensure those liquids
were no longer toxic and had tested them to be sure.
He said he would send me the specifics on that.
I didn’t ask him whether

CSX toxic wastes were shipped to Lowndes County.

Huyser also said EPA had checked the record of that receiving landfill
before sending anything there, and it had a good record.
He seemed surprised to learn Continue reading →

From Seven Out in Waycross to CSX to Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County

CSX was involved directly in the

Seven Out contamination,
storing hazardous water that leaked:
and then that water was apparently shipped to the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County.
This is in addition to the

the CSX trichloroethylene groundwater contamination dating back to 2000 and earlier.

According to a letter from Georgia Department of Natural Resources
to BCX, Inc. of 20 July 2004,

EPA Identification Number: GAR000030007,

Twenty-seven tanks of wastewater were stored at the facility.
Four portable tanks were storing the excess capacity of wastewater next door
on property owned by CSX Transportation.
These portable 10,000-gallon tanks were not labeled to indicate their contents;

According to a BCX representative, one of the portable 10,000-gallon tanks
had a gasket failure on the forward manhole which caused the release of an
unknown substance onto the ground at the site owned by CSX
Transportation;

Dead vegetation was observed in a 15 feet by 30 feet area downgradient of the
tank that caused the release;

A yellowish-green substance was observed on the ground between the portable
tank that had the release and another portable tank adjacent to it. There was
also dead vegetation observed between these two tanks; and

And GA EPD tested the soil and found something the document doesn’t
specify, but whatever it was was enough that: Continue reading →

CSX groundwater contamination in Waycross

The MCLG for
trichloroethylene
is zero.

Around the
Seven Out and CSX contamination areas in Waycross more than 100 people
have gotten sick or died,
most since 2000, with groundwater contamination
known since 1985, according to Joan Martin McNeal,
So the CSX problem long predates

the Seven Out problem.
Here’s her map of the CSX property (in yellow) and contamination, sickness, and death:

brown stars: known contamination areas

red markers: confirmed deceased or confirmed cases of severe illness
mostly cancer (bone, lung, prostate, blood, colon, breast),
some severe neurological disorders, some heart failure,
with ages ranging from 4 to 85 years.

green markers: likely early stage cases of such problems

According to this February 2000

tricholoroethylene isopleth map,

there was already extensive contamination in the CSX railyard by 2000,
extending across an internal drainage ditch that goes into the
Waycross Canal that become Tebeau Creek, running through downtown
Waycross into the Satilla River.

According to U.S. EPA,

Trichloroethylene 79-01-6 Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000, Continue reading →

Video of 6 minute meeting @ LCC 2012-10-22

Here’s a single video of this morning’s entire Lowndes County Commission
Work Session.
The railroad item was neither of the ones
on which I was speculating.
The animal shelter wants a 24 hour “cooling-off period” with a submitted
animal kept at home before “evaluation” by the shelter.
The Tax Commissioner wants to refund some taxes they apparently accidentally
overcharged.
The Fire Chief has bids for equipment for the new fire truck.
And there’s going to be an animal health fair.
They vote tomorrow evening at 5PM.

Here’s

the video,
followed by

the agenda,
with links to the relevant parts of the video,
and a few notes.

Video of 6 minute meeting

Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2012.

Thanks to Dexter Sharper for use of his video camera.

Here’s

the annotated agenda:

Continue reading →

Rairoad, animals, taxes, and a fire truck @ LCC 2012-10-22

Five minutes?
Or will they discuss any of the four items on
the agenda
for Monday morning’s Work Session?

What’s the CSX project?

Is it this item from

the T-SPLOST constrained project list?

RC11-000071 Construction of St Augustine Road Overpass

That overpass went

from $12,000,000 to $14,627,933.04 during the T-SPLOST selection process.
On the ground down there on St. Augustine Road
it sure looks like people are preparing for an overpass.
Has the county found some non-T-SPLOST way to fund that railroad overpass?

Since it’s CSX, I’d guess it’s not

this other T-SPLOST project:

RC11-000077 Georgia and Florida Railway (GFRR) — Valdosta to Willacoochee Rehabilitation

The Commission could just post the proposed agreement along with the agenda,
and then we’d all know.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2012, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2^nd Floor