CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities in Cherokee County have issued a warrant for a North Carolina truck driver who they said was discovered dumping a liquid substance on Interstate 575 Monday morning.
Dispatchers with in Cherokee County received a call at around 10:30 a.m. about a motorist pumping an unknown substance onto the ground under the Lower Bethany Road bridge on I-575.
Crews from the Cherokee Marshal's Office, Cherokee Fire and Emergency Services and Cherokee Sheriff's Office arrived at the location, but found that the suspect had already departed the area.
However, authorities did find a liquid substance under the bridge which appeared to have been just dumped there.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division was notified and all lanes of the interstate highway were shut down for about 10 minutes. One lane of the highway remained closed for just over an hour.
The Cherokee Marshal's Office began an investigation of the incident. It was determined that the liquid that was dumped was a substance known as "Leachate."
Leachate is any liquid which, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed.
The county marshal's office spoke with management at the Pine Bluff Landfill in Ball Ground, and discovered that an individual had arrived there Monday morning to pick up leachate from there, but the truck he was driving already had leachate in its tank, so he was turned away.
This occurred moments before the dumping occurred on the interstate, according to the marshal's office. The truck and driver matched the description of the person who was reportedly dumping the substance on Interstate 575.
The driver involved has been identified as 37-year-old Eddie Leon Alston of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Authorities have secured a warrant for unlawful dumping against Alton.
"We take this very serious, as you can see with the warrant taken for this individual’s arrest," said Cherokee County Chief Marshal Ron Hunton. "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."
Alton's current whereabouts are not presently known.
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