Earth Day

By Staff
Students get environmental lessons at Earth Park
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Junior High School sixth graders enjoyed Earth Day 2003 on April 11 at Earth Park. The event was sponsored by Hartselle Utilities, the Hartselle Beautification Board, TVA, the Flint Creek Watershed Project, BFI, and State Rep. Ronald Grantland (D-Hartselle).
Students explored four stations that demonstrated the benefits of recycling and the process of wastewater turning into drinking water.
Jeff Kirby and Jay Lawrence of Hartselle Utilities manned the first station, which explained how untreated sewer water is biologically mixed in the treatment system with bugs to eat away the bacteria. Once settled, clear water disinfectant is discharged to Shoal Creek where sulfur dioxide is used to remove oxygen. The process was demonstrated in a video.
HJHS student Clay Brown recently won first place in the environmental science division at the Alabama Engineering and Science Fair. His project tested products in waste treatment plant water to see which treatment is the safest in waste removal. His project also received five special awards at regional competition and placed first in the state with four special awards.
Brown's project was displayed at the first station where he explained it to visiting students.
Johnny Millsap of Hartselle Utilities manned the second station, which explained how a sewer system works as a collection agency. Wastewater is taken to the treatment plant, released into Shoal Creek, on to Flint Creek, and ends up in the Tennessee River.
Brad Bole of the Flint Creek Watershed Project manned the third station, which demonstrated how point-source permits give people permission to put pollutants into the water. Non-point-source pollutants are put into the water through daily activities, such as gas or oil from a car that runs into a drainage ditch, or a septic tank that doesn't process waste correctly.
Bole explained how this helps or hurts the environment.
Denise Taylor and Thomas Miller of BFI manned the fourth station, which explained what items can be recycled and what they are made into. The process saves energy and keeps waste down.
Earth Day at Earth Park is an annual event for HJHS sixth grade students.