In response to your article in The Citizen entitled: " Planners eye Panasonic tree cutting proposal," please print a correction due to the following inaccuracies found within the article:

1. The article states there are "plans for harvesting 30-40 acres adjacent to Panasonic Corporation."

Response: There are no plans for harvesting 30-40 acres adjacent to Panasonic Corporation. Panasonic owns approximately 20 acres of undeveloped land with trees. Panasonic was discussing with the lumber company the removal of fallen trees and some trees that cause a potential safety hazard to the employees and vehicles surrounding the parking lots and the removal of "select" pine trees that when removed will add to the overall appearance of the facility.

2. City Planner David Rast told the Planning Commission, [March 22] that a logging company has asked for a permit to timber the acreage. Rast said [March 24] that he has not received a reply (from Panasonic).

Response: In March 1999 a letter dated 4 March 1999 was received at Panasonic from City Planner, David E. Rast, requesting additional information regarding the proposed timbering operation. At the time of the Citizen article, Panasonic was in the process of replying to the City Planner on this project.

A response has not been sent to the City Planner, due to the fact that Panasonic is still in the fact-finding stage and has not made a final decision on this project. Publication of the article prior to the receipt of a Panasonic written response to the City Planner is premature. The article in the newspaper misleads the reader into believing that a decision had already been made. This is not the case.

Panasonic takes great pride in the appearance of the facility and the environmental aspects of the community. In 1998, Panasonic received the coveted ISO14000 Environmental Certification and also received the Spirit of Industry Award from the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce for its contribution to Peachtree City and Fayette County.

Removal of select pine trees for safety and cosmetic purposes is far from timbering acreage. A final decision has not been made by Panasonic; however, it has never been our intention to "timber the acreage." In the future, if you have questions regarding Panasonic that concern the environment, please feel free to contact us to prevent future publication of inaccurate statements involving Panasonic.