Rural Georgia lawmaker wants Legislature to settle stink raised by casting sludge upon the soil

Tankers hauling mystery sludge have been a common – and unwelcome – sight in rural Wilkes County for more than a decade, regularly filling the country air with a putrid aroma.

But those haulers have been skipping past Wilkes County lately.

That probably has something to do with a fish kill last summer that attracted a glaring media spotlight and brought public scrutiny to a waste disposal practice that wiped out more than 1,600 fish in the Little River, which is part of the prized Savannah River Basin.