WABE’s Week In Review: Oil Keeps Spilling, Feds Visit And Back To School

August 7th, 2021

A shoreline clean-up team uses hand tools to gather oiled sand for removal from a section of beach near Wylie Street public beach access on Sunday.

St. Simons Sound Incident Unified Command

Oil continues to wash up on Georgia beaches and marshes near Brunswick. The wrecked cargo ship stuck on the coast for close to two years—the Golden Ray—has leaked oil multiple times over the past week as crews try to dismantle it.

“This is not an isolated incident,” said Fletcher Sams, the executive director of the environmental group Altamaha Riverkeeper. “We’re seeing fuel on the water every day since the initial impact on the beach So this is an ongoing spill.”

Crews are working long hours on land and on the water to clean up the oil, according to Sams.

The Golden Ray capsized as it was leaving Brunswick in 2019, carrying thousands of cars. The wreck is just a little more than half removed.

Biden Administration tour hits metro Atlanta…

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Atlanta on Wednesday, touting the Biden administration’s plan to invest trillions in infrastructure. (Emil Moffatt/WABE)

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms welcomed U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Atlanta on Wednesday, noting that she’s the third cabinet secretary to visit the area in the last week.

“I don’t remember that happening—not recently anyway, so we are grateful for the support,” said Bottoms.

The U.S. Senate continues consideration of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that could mean a large investment of federal dollars in Metro Atlanta. Yellen was in town to tout the spending as a way to “repair the broken foundations of our economy.”

MARTA could see millions of extra dollars in federal transit funding under the $1 trillion infrastructure deal proposed in the U.S. Senate https://t.co/6eOb4Tuza6

— Emil Moffatt (@EmilMoffatt) August 3, 2021

–Get more here on the Biden administration’s top health official’s visit to Atlanta, where he said his agency is working as quickly as possible to review Georgia’s request for a limited Medicaid expansion with a work requirement.

Pediatricians say kids should wear masks at school…

The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling on researchers to broaden their COVID-19 vaccine trials to include more children. — John Moore/ Getty Images

The Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote an open letter to local school superintendents recently offering guidance on how to safely reopen schools amidst a rise in COVID-19 cases. The letter urges superintendents to require all staff and students over the age of two to wear masks regardless of whether they’ve received the vaccine. More with Dr. Hugo Scornik, the president of the Georgia chapter of the AAP.

Also in this episode:

–Stephannie Stokes tells us about a Fulton County program aimed at getting rental assistance to tenants before their eviction.

–Martha Dalton and Mark Lannaman deliver an audio postcard of the first day of school for kids in Cobb and Dekalb Counties.

–Aaron Tremper reports on how Georgia’s monarch butterflies could be hit hard by climate change.