Now for the week’s disturbing news: The military sent its beloved load of PCB contaminated material to Pell City after all.What a kick in the gut that is, especially considering that none other than Sen. Richard Shelby weighed in on the situation a few days ago and seemed to have managed to delay the shipment for a couple of weeks at least. But alas the military seems to be having its way.
No public notice (save a passing mention in the Federal Register), no consultations with local, state or federal elected officials, no care in the world about the fact that this area is already loaded with contamination problems already.
None of that.
No, this was done the military way: In silence and in secrecy.
We do not appreciate it; for it further erodes the trust our area has of the military and should cause most everyone to ask what else the Pentagon pollutant strategists have up their sleeves for us.
Sure our community is familiar enough with the ways of the military that we understand you must take most everything with a good bit of skepticism. One must, folks learned many years ago in northeast Alabama, press the military for answers.
But through the years a better relationship has been hammered out with the military in our area.
The lines of communication are not too bad when it comes to the more high profile issues dealing with the Army in our immediate area.
We should not, then, be as surprised by these actions as disappointed.
For now, the question is, should we ready ourselves for another, grander shipment of PCBs from Japan and tiny Wake Island — a place that seems much more fit for the disposal of PCBs than Pell City, Ala. — and should we be concerned there might be some other unrevealed scheme afoot to send the unsuspecting Alabamians a load of some other, much more sinister, substance?
We would be foolish not to.
