First Slice 9/25/14: EPA orders Army to clean up Fort Gillem
Symphony musicians plan free concerts and BP won’t be getting any money back from victims of the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill.
The EPA has ordered the U.S. Army to take “expedited corrective measures” at Fort Gillem in Forest Park. The Army is required to address the air, water, and soil quality at the former base. Decades of dumping of toxic chemicals at the site have resulted in known carcinogens seeping into nearby residential and commercial areas. The Army must determine the full extent of the contamination and take action to address the situation.
According to the Georgia Department of Labor, the unemployment rate in Metro Atlanta for August climbed to 8.0 percent. That’s a minor increase from July’s rate of 7.9 percent.
Atlanta symphony musicians are planning to perform free concerts Friday at Kennesaw State University’s Bailey Performance Center. This announcement comes amid the ongoing labor dispute between the musicians and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The ASO announced this week that all concerts through Nov. 8 will be postponed.
At a hearing in Federal District Court in New Orleans, Judge Carl J. Barbier ruled that BP cannot recoup hundreds of millions of dollars it claims to have overpaid victims of the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill. BP claimed the original payments were too generous and wanted some of the money returned “as a matter of equity and fairness,” as Geoff Morrell, BP’s senior vice president for communications, put it.