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LAWRENCE COUNTY-The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement concerning the dumping of oil onto the roadways in Lawrence County. Teo suspects have been arrested and charged in this incident:
“On Saturday May 20th, 2023, at approximately 6pm, 911 began receiving calls of oil on the roadways in the eastside of Lawrence County. Caddo-Midway Fire and other volunteer departments responded along with the Lawrence County Road Department to assess the situation. Approximately 33 miles of Lawrence County roads had oil on them. The trail crossed into Morgan County on County Road 87 took various county roads in Morgan County before entering the city limits of Decatur. The Lawrence County Road Department had to put down over 37 tons of sand and expended almost 70 hours of labor cleaning up and making the roads safe for travel.
The Lawrence County Commission and the Sheriff’s Office started receiving tips and home
security camera videos of the incident. An early 90’s model blue GMC pickup truck was spotted pulling a utility trailer with a large container on the back. The container appeared to be capable of holding upwards of 500 gallons. The truck and trailer of oil was randomly driving around the east end of the county discarding the oil on the roadways before finally he had discarded all the oil somewhere around Central Parkway in Decatur.
The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division was able to determine that Keith Allen Clarke and Laura Clarke of Courtland, Al. were responsible for the oil spill. Both were taken into custody with the help of the Decatur Police Department on May 22nd, 2023, in Decatur. Both are charged with Criminal Littering and Criminal Mischief (Damage to Public Property) bond has been set at $2500.00 dollars apiece.
Other charges in other jurisdictions are possible. Alabama Department of Environmental Services has been contacted.
Sheriff Sanders and members of the Lawrence County Commission would like to thank the public that phoned in tips and sent in videos of the incident.”
Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department