The Citizen Review article on Photocircuits (March 12) brought us some interesting points.

First, why would Photocircuits Superintendent Mark Bunker be surprised by protests over expansion? After all, Peachtree City citizens have been protesting this issue since June 22, 1998.

Second, Mr. Bunker finally admitted that "we [Photocircuits] absolutely have hazardous chemicals here."

Third, Bunker stated, "We don't have anything here that would cause a community-wide evacuation, or even a three-mile-wide, evacuation."

Assuming that is true, guess how many citizens live within two miles of that facility: Wynnmeade, Braelinn, Planterra, Aberdeen and many commerical/industrial centers.

Fourth, Mr. Bunker stated, "We use professional chemical companies for hauling and some operating systems."

If you will check the Local Section of the March 16 AJC, you will see that we had yet another "professional" tanker truck jackknife while carrying 5,000 pounds of ammonia thiosufate. Fortunately, the tanker landed on soft ground beyond the curb. There are some houses in the Kedron Village that you could hit by throwing a rock while standing on Ga. Highway 74 - accidents happen.

Planning Commission Chairman Julian Campbell stated that any future expansion, addition or reconfiguration at any of the Photocircuits sites "would have to go through the commission and conform to conditions, regardless."

I would believe that except for the fact that the current Photocircuits variances before the City Council were never passed by the commission and somehow mysteriously disappeared from the Planning Commission docket while landing in the hands of the City Council.

Mr. Campbell really went out on a limb and suggested that "Photocircuits has done a lot to be a good neighbor, but they're going to have to do a lot more."

Mayor Bob Lenox stated at a March 15 meeting regarding the variances that Photocircuits has not been a good neighbor.

The truth is that Photocircuits does very little for the communities of Peachtree City and Glen Cove, New York (their other location). But here is what they have done:

(1) Caused evacuations in Peachtree;

(2) Discharged large amounts of metal into the sewers and creeks of both Peachtree City and Glen Cove;

(3) Emitted air pollutants both illegally and excessively over legal limits in Peachtree City from 1994 to 1996 according to Ga. EPD;

(4) Environmental concerns have been so great in both cities that each has had to form committees to deal with their Photocircuits problems;

(5) Residents have expressed great concern in both cities over Photocircuits' excessive water and sewage usage;

(6) In Glen Cove, Photocircuits purchased "credits" from other areas so that they could pollute more in Glen Cove;

(7) Ga. EPD documents reveal that Photocircuits has discussed using pollution credits for its Peachtree City facilities;

(8) Photocircuits performed construction in Glen Cove without proper approval and paved over a site where 26 water monitoring wells were to be located because the water had been contaminated;

(9) Photocircuits has chosen to continually purchase property for facilities running 24 hours/7 days and storing hazardous, toxic chemicals adjacent to residential areas in both Glen Cove and Peachtree City.

Mr. Campbell failed to mention any of the "good" things Photocircuits has done - he just gave them the official "good neighbor" label.

Someone might say that Photocircuits is paying taxes which eases the burden on the citizens of Peachtree City. Unfortunately, the truth is that we the citizens have been subsidizing Photocircuits for almost two decades.

They are the number one consumer of water and sewer in Fayette County. Until very recently, we were paying four times more in sewer fees than Photocircuits. We were actually paying for them to emit polluants and cause additional risk.

Please do not believe a word that I have said until you read the source material for yourself! If you would like this information, you can e-mail me (steve_ptc@juno.com).

This matter effects 33,000 Peachtree City citizens. Our committee will be comprised of citizens from nearly every village in the city. Please write or fax the City Council and tell them what you think about the expansion of toxic chemicals in our city.