Killer water in Limestone County?

ATHENS — “I’ve been their sewer for 20-something years.”

That’s how nursery owner Bill Strain described alleged contamination by his business neighbor, the Limestone County Farmers Cooperative.

He believes the co-op’s handling of chemicals has been causing contamination since it began operation.

Both businesses are on U.S. 31 south of U.S. 72 and are one-half mile apart.

Strain, once a customer of the co-op, said it took him about five years and $2 million in plant losses before he put the blame on the co-op. He has filed a lawsuit that states the co-op does not follow industry standards for cleaning its spray tanks and other equipment.

The lawsuit also states the co-op is causing run-off contamination by not having a self-contained area for mixing and loading operations.

Testing by the state and a private lab indicates there are pesticides and herbicides in the groundwater and storm water adjacent to the co-op, in a tributary that runs to Swan Creek and in Strain’s irrigation pond off U.S. 31.

Strain has abandoned his pond and is pumping water from Swan Creek. The contamination was found in a tributary to the creek, but it is the only source he has to irrigate his plants other than the pond.

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