DPC to Host Glow Stick Vigil on Overdose Awareness Day

August 22, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Prevention Coalition hopes to light up downtown Smithville in purple Thursday night, August 26 to honor and remember loved ones lost to overdose death.

A Purple Glow Stick Vigil for Overdose Awareness Day will be held on the west lawn of the DeKalb County Courthouse Thursday from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Everyone attending will be provided purple glow sticks to display for the observance.

Guest speakers will be Justin Cantrell and Lydia Price. Seth Willoughby will provide the music.

Pictures and names of loved ones who have passed away or survived from an overdose will be included on a Community Blessing Banner.

For more information email dekalbtnprevention@gmail.com or message on Facebook.

This project is funded under a grant contract with the State of Tennessee and Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

August 22, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Saints got their first win of the football season Thursday night at Trousdale County. The final score was 14-0.

Juan Ortega was responsible for both touchdowns for the Saints, scoring from 2 yards out and later from 7 yards. Jon Hendrix added the two point conversion after the first score.

The Saints are now 1-2 and will host Watertown Middle School Thursday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m.

August 21, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Still a mystery!

Almost two weeks since dead fish and minnows were found floating in Hickman Creek in Alexandria federal and state environmental agencies along with local officials have been trying to get to the bottom of what is in the water and what caused it. Still no answer.

Until further notice the public is urged to avoid fishing or wading in the creek and to use an alternate source for watering animals. The affected area of Hickman Creek is located from Edgewood Street in Alexandria, approximately one and a half mile downstream to the Highway 53 Bridge.

A concerned citizen apparently made the discovery of the dead fish in the creek on Monday, August 9 and reported it to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency who then contacted the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. What EPA contractors found was an unknown substance seeping into the creek, believed to have contributed to the kill of around 3,500 fish, which was coming from the creek bank behind the Alexandria Senior Citizens Center.

A staging area was established there with a sump well which was dug to catch and contain the substance before any more of it could get into the creek. The dingy, dark liquid substance is being pumped into five above ground mobile FRAC storage tanks at the site to be shipped off for testing. Although the source of the seepage has been difficult to pinpoint, officials do not believe it to be coming from any pipes or drains, but rather from groundwater in the area.

“They are holding the material that is coming from the sump pump for storage until we get a positive identification on exactly what the substance is, and how it can be disposed of,” DeKalb Emergency Management Director Charlie Parker told WJLE. “They are 21,000 gallons each, but will not be filled completely. They will hold between 19,500 and 20,000 gallons in each tank, leaving a little room.”

“At the present time, Tank 1 is full, with the second tank about three quarters full,” Parker continued. “We have a total of five tanks. If they are full before we know what the substance is, then the EPA will send a truck to offload the material and transport it to a hazardous waste site. We’re still waiting on confirmed analytics. We do have some preliminary data in from samples taken last week. There are some chemicals in this liquid, but some are presumed to be naturally occurring materials.”

Mitigation efforts may already be paying off. According to Parker some aquatic life is returning to the creek. “There are minnows, and water bugs running along the top of the water. With a combination of the rains, and keeping the chemicals from reaching the creek, we are getting some aquatic life back in the area.”

Representatives on site include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA contractors, the Tennessee Department of Environmental and Conservation (TDEC), the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), DeKalb County Emergency Management, and the Town of Alexandria and representatives.

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