Alison Young Investigates

Carnival ride mishaps can injure, kill

Serious injuries and deaths involving amusement park and carnival rides are relatively rare, data indicate. Still, out of the millions of riders each year, federal regulators estimate that more than 2,500 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries involving amusement rides. In Georgia, recent incidents have included a man being thrown off a whirling swing into a fence; girls’ legs badly cut when a trailer awning was opened into the path of their whirling ride; a little girl who fell from near the top of a Ferris wheel; and a decapitation involving a roller coaster. Regulators monitor amusement rides

EPA to probe forgotten lead smelter in Atlanta

For decades beginning in 1934 an Atlanta lead smelter spewed toxic dust from its two smokestacks. Although the smelter is gone, the lead fallout likely remains in soil in the surrounding area. But local residents and state and federal environmental regulators were unaware of the old smelter site until contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The EPA has opened an investigation into the old Evans Metal Co. site near I-85 and Piedmont Road. The site is one of hundreds of forgotten smelters nationwide that pose potential health risks caused by lead poisoning, some experts say.                 EPA investigation into Atlanta lead smelter