Dog River residents worried about storm stirring trash

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Tuesday, Dog River residents awaited Hurricane Isaac and the deluge he was expected to bring.

That wasn’t all they were worried about, as those who live along the river often deal with a surge of trash along its banks.

Mike Bradley has lived on Dog River for more than a decade. In that time, he's seen his share of storms. The last one he said left a mark was 2008's Hurricane Gustav.

"This storm is about its size and the water was up to the second cinder block on my house," Bradley said.

Hurricane Katrina brought much higher water levels, but Bradley doesn't think that will happen this time around.  Before the full effects of the storm arrived Tuesday, his yard was underwater; his wharf was too.

He said Wednesday will be worse.

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"It will make it all the way to the street," said Bradley, pointing from his backyard to the front of his home.

Bradley took steps to put up lawn furniture and others items that could float away.

But there's one thing he couldn’t prepare for. That’s the trash he expects to see flood the river. After a typical rainstorm, a sea of Styrofoam and range of other litter seeps in and covers the water.

"It looked like you could walk across the river on the trash," said Bradley.

Small pieces have already shown up, including a stray bottle and some Styrofoam.

The Federal Clean Water Act requires cities to create storm water management plans to reduce the pollution flushed into streams and lakes by municipal drainage systems. Recently, Mobile City Council members approved a contract with Mobile Group to handle the storm water management plan.

However, because they missed a deadline set by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the agency fined the city.

Down the river, Miles Lankford was on the lookout for signs of the storm. He doesn't expect any flooding, though. His home sits more than 20-feet above sea level.

"I’m expecting a lot of rain, water and picking up tree limbs when it is all done with," said Lankford. "For now, just chilling and waiting for the storm."

Lankford said he’d prefer picking up limbs to picking up trash any day.