CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A truck driver accused of illegally dumping a white substance on the side of a Cherokee County interstate is now wanted by authorities.
The dumping shut down part of I-575 in Canton for some of Monday morning while investigators tried to figure out what they were dealing with.
“Anyone who handles these types of materials knows you can’t do that,” said Capt. Jay Baker, spokesperson for the Cherokee County Marshal’s Office. “It can have some toxic compounds in it, and it can be dangerous.”
Someone had reported seeing a man dumping the substance underneath the lower Bethany Road Bridge before Ball Ground.
“It was a huge inconvenience for people traveling that day. Traffic was backed up for miles,” Baker said.
Investigators soon identified the substance as something that belongs in a landfill.
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The Cherokee County Marshal’s Office soon determined it was a substance called leachate, often used in landfills. The investigation led them to the Pine Bluff Landfill.
Employees said someone had just come by in a truck asking for leachate to haul and sell, but they turned him away because he already had some in his tank.
“We presume he went to the interstate, dumped what he had, probably going to return to try and get some but likely saw the first responders and did not show back at the landfill,” Baker said.
Authorities said 37-year-old Eddie Leon Alston of North Carolina is the one they’re after for a crime they’re not taking lightly.
“To do this much commercial dumping on an interstate is rare,” Baker said.
In Cherokee County, a warrant for the truck driver for the charge of unlawful dumping has been secured and is active.
There is also now a state investigation into the matter.
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