Flashback Friday: A toxic remedy and train wrecks figurative and literal

Brunswick News - 4/27/2018

April 27--25 Years

(April 22-26, 1993)

The Environmental Protection Agency announced, through an ad in The News, a cleanup remedy for the Brunswick 009 Landfill Superfund site, placing the cost of the remedy at around $9.9 million to secure the buried toxaphene where it was, underground. The plan also called for a cap of clay and other materials, with grading of the site to reduce chances of rainwater penetrating the site and carrying off contaminants elsewhere.

The volume of contaminated soil was set at 33,000 cubic yards, with cleanup expected to take two to four years on the 16.5-acre property.

Over in Alabama, Gov. Guy Hunt got the boot after a conviction for taking $200,000 from his inauguration fund and using it "to pay personal debts and buy items such as a marble shower stall," according to the Associated Press.

"Hunt, appearing stunned but dry-eyed, moved through the courtroom hugging weeping supporters after the verdict was announced," the AP reported. "The jury deliberated only about two hours over two days in reaching the verdict."

In sports, the New England Patriots selected Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe as the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, with the Seattle Seahawks picking up Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer at No. 2.

50 Years

(April 23-24, 1968)

Gov. Lester Maddox, back in the area on the convention speaking circuit, continued tubthumping on what, for him, became familiar themes.

As he told the Georgia Consumer Finance Association on Jekyll Island, "Phooey on federal interference."

Maddox claimed that the federal government placed private enterprise under attack.

"I believe that I am right when I say that the American way of life is being destroyed, and that those of us who care must stand up for our beliefs," he said.

The News reported, "The governor cited the passage of the 1968 Open Housing Bill as 'a death blow' to the right of a citizen 'to have, hold and enjoy private property.'

"'I have come to tell you that the sky is falling,' he told the convention. 'I know,. because a piece of it hit me on the head.'

"He took a verbal swipe at the liberal press which has 'in effect labeled your governor a 'Chicken Little' ... and so I am on my way to tell the king.'"

Maddox continued pontificating later at an advisory board meeting of the Salvation Army.

"Our real poverty is a poverty of spirit in our church people, a poverty of patriotism," Maddox said. "This is the poverty that needs wiping out."

Further, he cited refusal of the United States to allow Rhodesia's Ian Smith permission to visit this country to speak to a university group.

"'It's shocking, since communists have been welcomed. It's an attempt by the bigots in Washington to restrict information. The truth is, they are afraid to let the citizens see the other side of the coin.'"

75 Years

(April 28, 1943)

A gasoline truck and a troop train collided -- fortunately, there were no fatalities.

"One soldier was painfully hurt, several were cut and bruised and the ... driver of a gasoline tank truck was badly hurt at an early hour today when the gasoline truck collided with a troop train on the Seaboard Air Line about 20 miles southwest of Brunswick, where the rail line crosses the Waycross-Brunswick highway," The News reported.

The story continued, "The troop train was en route south and consisted of more than 15 coaches. Fortunately, it was stated, the soldiers who were occupying the coach which was damaged by the impact were at breakfast at the time of the accident and consequently escaped injury.

"The soldier who was injured was Leslie Turner, of Maine. He was brought here in an ambulance of the Gibson-Hart Funeral Home and later removed to the port hospital at Camp Stewart."

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