In the shadow of Lookout Mountain, this locked gate faces Wilson Road near 51st Street in Piney Woods. The former Velsicol property has since been vacated.A South Chattanooga community’s push to force additional environmental cleanup at the abandoned Velsicol Chemical Co. site has resulted in a new look by the state health department.
Bonnie Bashor, Tennessee environmental epidemiology director, said Tuesday that she will conduct a public health assessment for the neighborhoods near the Velsicol and old Charles A. Bell School areas and parts of the Chattanooga Creek area.
“I will address whether the Velsicol plan is adequate,” Bashor told community members.
Community members wrote to state and federal officials earlier this year seeking a health assessment. Bashor said that letter halted a permitting process that would have allowed Velsicol to cover the site with dirt, fence it and monitor it as a closed industrial site.
The community wants the 36-acre site cleaned up enough to be used by the public.