Document 7MdBXmBYbDXpKOEk5YVQZgpNa

ANNISTON, AM. STAB D. 24,500 JAN 91977 MAI) >* " -/T iii4 . i idOl'WAssa |!Vc!*ea .(>'.. jarri'p.' ts'v 'f- v '>pvr iftA ' r .r :,,.4 By THOMAS NOLAND ", Hr.' t; * : star Stan Writer ; . 1 CENTRE-Vein Lake, onto four mootba ago dotted with V ndUm crnfto and rioted with crowded marinai, to ' deeertod u a wintertime iwimmlnt pool today. . Even the mat loyal Watoa fbhermea flak atoewhwe aow. nwmartaiaa where theykapt their boats nortdaartadplM planki and weathered "No Treiptatlng" al|m. The I. tootouranto where they ate Unto meali attract "only tboae 1 people who Ban through Add atop Tor a bllo,"aceordtog to . one Cedar Buff reataurant.Owner. ; , . i On the doore ut maw uf tbmc ptocOa to the eame fodtd ; aewapaper clipping. H to beaffllaed "Wetoe danger aald t> minimal"'.and talka.nbpatthepreeenee ot PCBe -- t pohrehtorinatod hlphenyto -- to flah foand In the lake. I 'i' Few people atop and read the dipping Anyone connected s. : with the lake knowa the atory too well, and Its meata|that dot heeit itronj enough to atop the tide of fear Amt nan JJ wined, at heat temporarily, the bketrontoowMity. ; u . The moat recent chapter oflheatory begin In September. 1 A1 Thpt ,wn, When the Oeorete' Department of Natural rT fteoburcea, after a itudy of TO) leveb tnOoou Rleer flih, !).' doled the river to commercial flaking to the Alabama atate 2. line..' ; . ' '>* . , ' . The department determload that, on thenrente, lento of PCSa found to the ftoh aaceieded the fin parti per million atantlaid that the U.S. Food and Oral AdmlnbtratlootFDA) aaya to the maximum for Info human conaumptton. Chemically related to DDT, PCBe han been found to cauoe . cancer to laboratory tldce.' ' Alabama Slate Health Officertir. Ira Myera dkfnot follow tilt. He iaaued a warning about exceailve conaumpUon of A from the river, which flowa Into Cherokee County'i Wetoa Lake, but he aaya "I penonaDy feel the margin of aafety adopted by the FDA to too atitogent," and the river. rematoa open In Alabaran,; v ) . .,... Nevertbeleaa. the effect hare baa been the aamem If the Georgia ban had filtered aorooalfw dtate Bne.;^ BQI Brannon, a Sd-yearold Centri realdataod long-tlroe WelwUhe fiaherman, la typical. Be flAed tor aport and for 1 .food. iaylnf foe Wetoe'Lnhe haad,"u>ed to he part of my Bid {ait week he atood Ip Ready Odam'a General Store *&&&&M Jw 2-1. HONS OOX02t> 16A (Up, Atmlgtatt #&tr /way, j i, uv ' I Weiss Lake (Ceatbae* FromPagolH.' ''t j 4 f\>\. near thelike and Aeeplahly puled a fretoly Aot quill him Ms pocket. Hot rim October hat he tubed In Vila Lake. Hi 1> t hunter now - e hunter whoee tear o( tolake cauern him(oilurtweyfromtokefroatgame.; i t:.,. ) "According la the pepere they've handtolimft (PCBe! In (be flab end ll'i not ttfe to eat," be Olid. "I fished on hart II my Ufa. I don't know whither that mill (PCBa) b dangerouioroot. Sot they ityyou'reootmppoiedtoeattlie llih with (hit milt In h." " ' , ; ... Odam watched him end nodded. '"Me aba him here, we can't Ml whether thou flihwith PCBe an hirmhil. I wouldn't know. All I can tay it, things are tight." , Whet doea "things are tight" mean along Welts Lake} '/> For Randy Odam, It meana a duatyrtck of flailing tackle that haa been virtually untouched to three montha, "The only thing that keep, in gotng ia the grocnip Heme," he aayi. For Fred Ulrich, a Oedar Btalfaervtce itatioc owner and nailing tackle aaleeman. It meana a grand total ot A to llahlng tackle alien atoce Oct. 1. It alao meana a Arm In the lain o{ outboatd motor gasoline Irom Md gallone a week id aummer io aero In the lait two montha. For C. M. Praet, owner of the Suaaet Hettae reatauraet on , the lake north pi Centre, It meana aeUtng no fish plitai hi a month. "A while ago t bought lOd pounds of flab," he aahl. "I had to throw Klm It away. No ooe'o buying It" " And lor Lynn Bishop, trtnnor 1 the Boatdook' . Reataurant In Cedar Btutl. It meana cutting hack the ' restaurant atall to almoat no one and trying to eell out In a market that haa no buyan. "When we bought property here two yean ago, it waa a choice piece of property.'' aaya Agnee Mattoi, Mra. Biahop'a mother who owna the reataurant Jointly with her. "Now we couldn't give It away. Ws once turned down WJ.000 lor It end we oouidn't get tlO.dOC today." While unable to leave, Mro, Mattox, Mre. Bishop, Ulrich, Odam and 17 othera did take action 10 daya ago. They filed e |1 billion claw-action mil In Blrmtogaim (ednnl court Ugalnet twu companion - Centra! Ekctrlc, r'-- "-- On., plant la the eouroe el the PCBe, end Mar ' ------ ---------"i them toC __ SHI Electric spokesman BUl Budunen laid offlclali at (ha Roma pint -- who ey a concrete wall Metalled last fall haa blocked toe seepage of PCBa Into the Coota-have not yet been aerved with the anil. '. It chargee General Electric with ruining tot acooomy of to* laketroot, caning Ita discharge of PCBa "wanton. erUPui., and tecklaaa'aaidssIthaitTagatdtchmaeUfe.fUkuieaad too affect It weald have on lake property end river property." The ctaii of tooee effected, nooordtag to . dtumeya for toe plainUffe, it about i,M people. Any award in toe HU - which nakeperiupe the largaet amount of damagat of any eult ever Bled la Alabama -- would be dlftributed among Ml memban ef Iha cleat aa ; determined by the coat. >< ' T "Certainly wo don't foe) good about H all," aid Buchanan of the PCB dilemma. "If thla la keeplag Aahennta bum ' enjoying (heir apcrt, wa rognd It vtty mutki. Wa're dotag everything possible io atop too problem." the main thing the company hu don la agree to etop ,' lining PCBa, which are employed to the mamifectan of . traniformen, by Jum 90. Motaanto. in torn, toil agreed to atop manufacturing them .10**1' - "-------- . A tpokeaman for the Alabama I rNahral ~ Resource! salt the ' - chemical, hi j__ _ ' But lor all that, tome itete officials ere not convinced the Weiu Lake problem la aeriena. Dr. Myers bettenae toe j: Georgia Department ot Natural Reaeurooe overreectod la t, , doting toe Coota, and BUI WUUa, director el Alabama's " Environmental Health Administration, agrees. ' I He blamee toe U.S. Barironmeatol Protection Agency (EPA) to Aflanta, faying EPA reports about PCB lento In -Coosa ftoh triggered .toe cioeing of toe river to commercial , : fishing. . Wifflt and other Alabama oHMaleeoe no deeroit baelto problem in toe levels of PCBa fa<md to Welts Lake flto. . Myers says it is safe to eat Waits Uka ftah as long aa the frequency ofconeumpUou to aot ebon two or tom Unite a } The ofndtli also tee tot problem dlmlntohbig, even i though PCBe ere nonblodagradable. Now that they ere ao ' longer discharged, Wlllti aaya, It wlU be a matter ot aeveral yaara before their chemical bonds weaken end they dtoadlvt '' bermlesaly In the wttor. . "Everything ought to be Improving from ban eu to, ''though we don't know bow fnatr WLOia atje. , . ..... How feet to of prime Importance to toe Cherokee i'CoubUans who tlgnod the roll and often wko an aeffertoi 'Oilmen Howard Hail eeSmntas II wtB^teteee to four ft year! before toe economy of the like again raackee fall L- etrnngtk. ... . . | . Hie abort-term solutionf Small-bustoesa toeae from ton F U.S. Small Buttoeao Adminiatration for toosc who MaUiy. V . iFor those ssho don't, Hall auggeato "leortoattog* thalr E' ' butioettei, branching Into aomathiog that doaa net dapafid p ton the Coota River end Weton Lake. . 1 i Bat for many to Chnroknp Oxwty, rlvnr hetlneea to >11 .they'veever.known. |,pf'ne,<> --- " HONS 00102?