Friday, August 17, 2001
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Friday, August 17, 2001 |
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Power plant noise is starting to irritate residents By JOHN
THOMPSON
The noise around a power plant in Heard County is starting to grate on some Coweta County residents' nerves. Commissioner Jim McGuffey told the County Commission during Tuesday's meeting that residents are heating up with their complaints. "You can stand a half-mile from the project and hear a tremendous amount of noise. You might as well be standing on the tarmac at Hartsfield," he said. McGuffey said county planner Robert Tolleson was standing a full half-mile from the plant and found his eyes were watering because of the fumes the plant was emitting. "It is a nuisance and I hope people pursue action against them," he said. Earlier this year in a unique partnership, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners, the Coweta County Rural Preservation Society and private citizens in the county filed suit in Heard County Superior Court to try and stop construction of the plant, which was developed by Dynegy Inc. of Houston, Texas. During the trial, officials from Coweta County, including County Administrator Theron Gay, told about the repercussions the plant could have in Coweta County. Situated in a controversial industrial zone created by the Heard County Commission, the Dynegy plant property extends across the Heard County line into Coweta County. "An out-of-state power company is building a gas-fired power plant in Heard County," said lawyer George C. Rosenzweig, representing Coweta County and the Coweta County Rural Preservation Society. "But the tailpipe of the plant will dump pollution in Coweta County, and Coweta is part of the Atlanta non-attainment zone which state and federal authorities agree is already over-polluted and must be protected." State and federal statutes require power plants to demonstrate that proposed emissions will be under allowable levels, but emissions were not modeled against levels that apply in the Atlanta non-attainment zone, in strict vioation of clean air laws, he said. "If you wanted to build this plant in Coweta County, you couldn't do it," said Rick Brown, president of the Rural Preservation Society. "But the Dynegy plant straddles the Coweta County line and construction continues at a rapid pace. We want the project stopped until all zoning and clean air issues are resolved," he said. The Rural Preservation Society is a 200-member organization founded in 2000 to address quality of life issues in rural areas, including green space preservation, conservation of natural resources, and clean air and water. The county eventually lost the lawsuit and the power plant started operations earlier this year.
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