al.com: Press-Register

In early 2005, Press-Register-sponsored testing found dangerously high levels of mercury throughout McIntosh, a small Washington County, Ala., town that sits along an industrial stretch known as "Chemical Alley." The findings - levels several hundred times higher than normal discovered in grayish, salty chunks on several dirt roads and scattered near schools, parks, woods and around houses - have prompted health-related warnings from state officials and others.

The Register's ongoing investigation, led by its national award-winning environmental reporting team, examines the source, extent and effects of the mercury contamination.

RESOURCES

• Register photo gallery

• Mercury drainage at Olin

• Mercury in the stream

• Mercury-contaminated bass

• Mercury analysis

• Mercury in solids

• Speciation in water

• Solid phase speciation

• Olin letter

• EPA on mercury

From The MOBILE REGISTER