Special to the Opelika Observer
The Alabama Senate today passed the Sadie Grace Andrews Act, sponsored by Senator Tom Whatley (R-Auburn), which requires commercial food service establishments to secure the covers of grease traps to restrict unauthorized access.
In October of 2017, three-year-old Sadie Grace Andrews drowned in a 6-foot deep grease trap outside of Bruster’s Real Ice Cream on East University Dr. in Auburn.
After the tragic, accidental death at the ice cream parlor, Senator Whatley promised to work with Sadie’s family to find a way to prevent further accidents.
“It’s always a tragedy when a life is lost due to an oversight. It’s even more tragic when that life is a child’s, Whatley said. “It was an honor to work with the Andrews family on this legislation. Thank you to my colleagues in the Senate for passing this bill and ensuring nothing like this happens again.”
Sadie’s family spoke in favor of the idea last week during a Health and Human Services Committee meeting on the legislation. Her father, Tracy Andrews, said he was “unaware that something so dangerous even existed.”
“I hope this law will help bring awareness to this issue and that it will prevent something like this from ever happening again,” Andrews said.