BRA: Tracking sludge dumpers
Source: Baton Rouge Advocate
Al “Bayou Wolfman” Toups spends his days thinking about where sewer sludge goes after it is pumped from a septic tank.
Toups, a retired Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s deputy, is one of the parish’s two environmental enforcement officers hired in the past two years whose job is to curb illegal dumping.
Toups spends his days tailing sludge-hauling trucks or reviewing records at septic system cleaning businesses to make sure sludge is properly disposed. “All I’m doing is putting the heat on them,” he said.
Illegal dumping of construction debris and sewer sludge became a problem in the parish’s rural areas, particularly after Hurricane Katrina, said Buddy Teal, environmental services administrator.
This storm is going to turn out to be one big environmental mess once we assess just how much damage it did - do we really need to compound the problem by illegally dumping - literally - our own crap?
Big picture, people; we really need to start seeing the damn big picture.
