Container Decontamination begins at State Docks

A portion of North A Warehouse at Alabama State Docks was turned into a closed cleaning center to wash down used farm equipment coming into Alabama from Great Britain and other parts of Europe. Imported this month for a north Mississippi company, the tractors, inside unopened containers, were quarantined by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry upon arrival.

The quarantine and additional cleaning were in response to eradicating the potential of live virus connected to hoof and mouth disease. This disease has infected livestock herds in Great Britain and Europe.

A cleaning plan, approved by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Alabama Department of Agriculture, is being carried out by a local company.

State Docks Director and CEO James K. Lyons said that although this is not a usual activity at the State Docks, “As a service oriented port with concern for the health and welfare of all of our citizens, we felt this is a necessary service to offer.”

The 41 containers and their contents are being individually cleaned with a solution of water and sodium hypochlorite.