be addressed this year including red light cameras, changes to the county's building codes and the development of a strategic plan. Waller encouraged the participation of the public to bring their ideas and opinions to the table.
The Mississippi Port Master Plan was given a central place in Waller's speech. He called it an unprecedented opportunity for Jefferson County and applauded the efforts of those who are working to make it a reality. Waller said the multiple site port had the potential to create 9,500 jobs through its "construction, operation and business development in the port district."
Waller said unemployment in Jefferson County was at about 10 percent.
"Job creation and job retention are job 1 in Jefferson County," Waller said.
He spoke of the river port project as a potential solution and emphasized the importance of Jefferson Regional Medical Center and Jefferson College in the challenge to create jobs and train workers.
He ended his speech commending the former commission for their hard work and the difficult decisions they had to make during difficult times, but finished with a note of hope.
I am just an eternal optimist, he said. I see the future of Jefferson County a lot different. We see a lot of people losing their homes, losing their jobs, but I believe the best days are still ahead.
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- Fenton
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Welcome Home
Join us in a step back in time with this special series as Goldie shares her life experiences in the early years of the 20th century.
This Week's
Hometown
Trivia
This service station was located in the long lost town of Local. At what intersection was it located?
Photo from Robert Crean's Photographs, Documents and History of Byrnesville, Cedar Hill, Dittmer, Local and Scheve. Courtesy of the Crean Family.
The forum gives people the chance to have some input into the process as the lead issue is addressed, Wilson says.
“The issue is really controversial. As time goes by we’re looking at how people feel about it,” he said. “I’m real glad people have come and expressed what they thought.”
Discussion at the meeting revolved around facts that will need to be known before legislation can be considered--the determination of the level of lead that denotes contamination, a number that has not yet been determined by the EPA for Jefferson County and the location of areas within the Big River Watershed that have high enough levels of lead to be determined contaminated.
The lead problem downstream also cannot be remediated until lead tailing piles upstream are contained and stabilized, a process the EPA hopes to complete by 2013 according to literature provided to the group.
In the meantime, Mike Alesandrini, a consultant hired to facilitate the watershed groups, says that strong concerns have been expressed to him about the persistence of the problem of moving contaminated materials out of the flood plain.
Next month, on December 6 at 7 p.m. the group will meet at the Hillsboro Civic Club to discuss erosion control along the river.
Clean-up Costs Could Go to Big River Businesses
Members of the Jefferson County Big River Watershed Group met November 1 to discuss the possibility of legislation that will address the transportation and distribution of contaminated materials from the Big River flood plain. The group was formed earlier this year, in response to a request from federal and state agencies as they draw up a master plan to address lead contamination in the Big River Watershed.
The possible need for legislation was a known discussion topic from the formation of the group. Now, however, regulators are informing business owners that the transportation of contaminated materials out of the flood plain may make them responsible for clean-up costs. The issue could affect businesses that excavate sand and gravel or top soil or harvest sod or trees as well as the haulers of those materials. Row crops generally are not an area of concern, say moderators of the group.
The ongoing studies and plans for clean-up have now brought the problem into the light, says Dean Wilson, and moderator of the Jefferson County Group.
“At the time, most of the haulers believed they were doing a good thing. The ground was fertile. The landowners had no idea that it was contaminated with lead,” Wilson said. “When the federal agencies came in, they would come in and clean up places where lead contaminated soil had been used. We thought there would be a lot of costs levied to haulers and landowners, but they really didn’t do that,” he said. “Now we are hearing those days are over. They are talking about legislation, and they want to hear what the people have to say,” he said.
The Big River Watershed is contaminated with lead from hazardous waste sites upstream, piles of residual materials from lead mining operations. In Jefferson County, the flood plains are especially wide, and as a result of regular flooding many have become contaminated especially in the lower plains where flooding can be an annual event.
Health problems are associated with contact with materials that have elevated levels of lead especially children, says Steve Sikes, Environmental Public Health Specialist for the Jefferson County Health Department.
“Lead can affect children in many ways. Even at low levels over a long period of time lead can cause learning disabilities,” Sikes said. “Lead can harm anybody, but children are especially vulnerable because they are in the developmental phase of life,” Sikes said.
Currently, there are no regulations concerning the transportation of materials. There have been some local ordinances enacted, for example in the Raintree development, material now must be tested before it is brought in as fill. There are citizens from several different perspectives that will be interested in the type of legislation that might be enacted including consumers who want to be protected and business owners which need guidelines on procedures and have concerns about liability, Wilson says.
