By By Lisa Tindell – news writer
Escambia County Commissioners said Alabama Department of Environmental Management officials have assured them that waste dumped recently at the Allied Waste-owned Timberlands Landfill on U.S. 41 is not hazardous.
But Commissioner Larry White said he will continue to keep tabs on the issue after residents have expressed concern about the waste, which came from Olin Corp.'s Macintosh facility.
Phillip D. Davis, chief in charge of waste programs with ADEM &#8220sent a letter reassuring the commission that the industrial waste dumped at Timberlands recently were not hazardous and would not be a problem,” White told the commission at its meeting Monday. &#8220I will continue to look into this situation. It is certainly my goal to try and protect the people of this county.”
In a letter dated March 7, Davis explained that ADEM had &#8220conducted an extensive regulatory review of the appropriate classification of the well sand reside from Olin Corporation's McIntosh facility and determined the material to not be a listed hazardous waste.”
Davis said in the letter that disposal of the material was conducted with full knowledge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 4 office in Atlanta. Olin Corporation sent a letter to EPA notifying them of their decision to remove the stockpiled sand and to dispose of it at the Timberlands Landfill.
Commission Chairman David Stokes said he appreciated the information passed to the commission by Davis.
Stokes said the work of the commission is vast, and at the top of the list is concern for the people and the environment of our area.
White said he understands the position of the residents near the landfill who are concerned about the waste.
In other business, the commission: