What?!? Railroad Can’t ‘Flush’ 10Million Pounds of Human Waste from Railyard
Officials say because it's 'human waste and medical by products' it's not hazardous like raw sewage. Tell that to the residents of this tiny Alabama town!
For two months now, about 10 million pounds of what's classified as human medical waste has been sitting in rail cars in a yard in Parrish, Alabama. And it doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon. It's said to be car after car full of containers of 'sludge.'
The stinky goo produces a smell that residents say is like 'dead bodies,' and they can't open their windows or spend much time outside before it 'overcomes them' say residents.
According to US News and World Report, the medical waste used to be transported to a solid waste disposal site in Adamsville, Alabama, which is about 27 miles away. The waste comes from New York and New Jersey waste mangement companies. They have the contract to gather and dispose of the waste from medical facilities all over the Northeast. It's sent to the solid waste disposal site located in Adamsville.
But now, the town of West Jefferson, which is 13 miles from the disposal site, has filed an injunction preventing the waste from being stored in a railyard that's largely between the two communities. So the waste was moved to Parrish, where there's no such zoning laws.
Because the waste can't be 'stored' in the railyard by the disposal site, it can't be processed, so it's been sitting in Parrish for two months. Officials are trying to work with state leaders to get some 'movement' but so far little progress.
Residents are very fearful what will happen when the weather gets hot. They believe people with respiratory issues and small children will be at risk from the smell.