Wednesday, November 14, 2001
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Wednesday, November 14, 2001 |
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Fritz has supported PTC environmental projects I am submitting the attached letter in support of Carol Fritz again for you to publish in the Letters section of The Citizen. Now that there is a runoff election for both the mayors race as well as the post 4 position in Peachtree City, I am hoping that you will publish a more balanced selection of the letters of support for the candidates over the next three weeks other than selecting only those that support the candidates whom you wish to see elected. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. There is really no reason why this letter should not be published. I am a professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology with the University of Georgia and have been a resident of Peachtree City since 1998. I first met Carol approximately six months after I arrived when she approached me and asked if my research program could assist the city in addressing various potential issues concerning surface water quality within Peachtree City's watersheds. She introduced me to city staff who explained what was known of the current status of water quality within the watersheds and where there may be potential problem areas requiring further investigation. These discussions have formed the basis of a major thrust of my research program. We have two major research projects focused on water quality within Peachtree City's watersheds funded by grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency totaling approximately $1.4 million. These projects are determining the impacts that lawn care chemicals and human health pharmaceuticals have on the ecosystems within the watersheds. Carol has been very supportive of these projects and has encouraged participation of local citizens as well as city staff. With her encouragement we have been working with city staff to incorporate the results from this research into a future stormwater assessment that will ultimately be required of the city and hopefully greatly reduce the amount of costly monitoring efforts. Carol sincerely cares about the impact that human activities have on the environment yet also weighs cost of regulation that will ultimately be borne by the city taxpayer to benefits received by the citizens. She continually looks for ways to get the best benefit for the citizens with as little cost to them as possible. The above projects are one example of this. She has taken a very active role in pursuing the causes of fecal coliform contamination of Lake Edith with the county board of health as well as supporting green space protection and strong enforcement of sediment erosion control. I have followed the other candidates for this post and having reviewed their qualifications, I see no better person to fill this position. She has served this post well for the past four years and the citizens of the city would be well served in a second term. Dr. Kevin Armbrust Peachtree City [Armbrust works at the University of Georgia Department of Crop and Soil Science Station in Griffin.]
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