Cherokee Officials Seeking Man Whose Illegal Dumping Closed Roads

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — Cherokee County authorities are searching for a man they say illegally dumped a substance on I-575 Monday.

Captain Jay Baker with the Cherokee Marshal's Office said at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Cherokee 911 received a call about a motorist pumping an unknown substance onto the ground on I-575 underneath the Lower Bethany Road bridge. Members of the Cherokee Marshal's Office, Cherokee Fire and Emergency Services, and the Cherokee Sheriff's Office arrived at the location moments later, but the suspect had left the area. Public safety officials found a liquid substance under the bridge that appeared to have been just dumped at the location, Baker said.

The State of Georgia Environmental Protection Agency was notified. All lanes of I-575 were closed for 10 minutes and one lane of the interstate remained closed for just over an hour.

The Cherokee Marshal's Office began an investigation into the incident. It was determined the liquid was a substance known as "leachate."

"Leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed," Baker said in a press release. "Leachate is a widely used term in the environmental sciences where it has the specific meaning of a liquid that has dissolved or entrained environmentally harmful substances that may then enter the environment. It is most commonly used in the context of land-filling of putrescible or industrial waste."

The Marshal's Office spoke with management at Pine Bluff Landfill which explained a man had arrived at the landfill Monday morning to pick up leachate from the Pine Bluff landfill but the truck he was driving already had leachate in its tank, so he was turned away, Baker said.

"This was moments before the dumping on the interstate," Baker said. "The truck and the driver matched the description of the individual who was reportedly dumping the substance on the interstate."

The driver has been identified as Eddie Leon Alston, 37, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A warrant for unlawful dumping has been secured for Alton. His current whereabouts are unknown, Baker said.

"We take this very serious, as you can see with the warrant taken for this individual's arrest," Chief Marshal Ron Hunton said. "His illegal activity shut down the interstate for a considerable period of time costing the citizens immense delay, concern and taxpayers' dollars with public safety agencies tied up dealing with this illegal and potentially dangerous act. I would like to commend Cherokee Fire Services, Cherokee Sheriff's Office for their professional response and the Deputy Marshal, who had very little information initially to go on, that was successful in identifying the offender."