They are a growing group of residents of south Fulton and north Fayette who are sick and impatient and will never back down.

Evidence of their commitment to get answers to their illnesses and have the Philip Services Corp. (PSC) waste treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92 shut down came Wednesday night at the first intergovernmental/citizens task force meeting to push for answers and action over the presence of pesticide component Propyl mercaptan that invaded their communities two months ago.

Coming one week after a public meeting called by Fulton County Commissioners Bill Edwards, residents heard calls by Fayette County officials for the plant to close, an echo of that call by Fulton County and the acknowledgment by Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) that an emergency order from Director Carol Couch could shut down the plant.

The onion-like odor of Propyl mercaptan coming from the plant has been blamed by nearly 250 residents in both counties for illnesses suffered by their families.

Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services Director Jack Krakeel presented a Fayette County map tracking complaints by residents that have been subjected to the lingering smell of Propyl mercaptan.

The map plotted various complaint zones based on approximately 100 responses to a possible exposure form listed on Fayette County’s Web site, www.admin.co.fayette.ga.us All exposure complaints by Fulton County residents received by Fayette County will be logged and forwarded to Fulton.

Fulton County's Web site is www.fultoncountyga.gov/county/goodthings.blog

Krakeel said the number of complaints might potentially reach 600 in Fayette County, based on reports his department had received. Citing a study from a 1992 incident where a large numbers of residents in a California community were sickened after exposure to Propyl mercaptan, Krakeel said his department believes there is a statistical relationship between the two cases. He said the current situation, along with significant numbers of people in Fayette and Fulton reporting similar illnesses to those in California, is reason to close the plant. Should a closure not occur, Krakeel recommended six actions that should be implemented.

Those included:

•Canister sampling over the next 30 days rather than the tube sampling previously done by EPD.

•The implementation of detention and spill protection for the adjacent Whitewater Creek

•The initiation of a epidemiological study on the outcomes of the release of Propyl mercaptan into the air

•Insuring an appropriate notification method for local jurisdictions and emergency management agencies

•A prohibition against PSC taking any material that did not pass the “sniff” test

•Further sampling up and down stream on Whitewater Creek for the presence of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

Krakeel suggested that Fulton County should begin the epidemiological study immediately. Fulton County holds a wastewater Pre-treatment permit on plant operations while EPD holds the solid waste permit.

“These are the minimum requests to protect the quality of life for residents if the plant is not shut down,” Krakeel said.

Fulton Deputy County Manager Terry Todd followed Krakeel, saying that Fulton County would file the same request. Responding to residents questions about Edwards statements last week regarding the idea of having the plant temporarily closed until answers could be found, Todd said the county attorney was continuing to review that possibility. Todd estimated that the ongoing process would require another week to be completed. During the meeting,residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the extended time required to make the decision. Several Fulton residents voiced a pronounced agitation over what they called a lack of action by Fulton during the past week compared to those of Fayette.

Residents throughout the meeting voiced their concerns and fears about exposure to Propyl mercaptan. Their frustration was obvious and understandable. In what is now two months since the first indication of symptoms, residents of south Fulton and north Fayette have reported nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, asthma, pneumonia, skin rashes, eye irritation, respiratory infections, dizziness, incoherence, kidney problems and other illnesses. Yet to date, the mysteries surrounding the sheer numbers of people confined to a reasonably small geographical area, of 40 miles covering portions of both counties, remains unknown. For some residents, their illnesses are lingering, much like the Propyl mercaptan that seems to have found a home among frustrated neighborhoods and residents concerned about short and long-term effects.

“I’m tired of hearing why it’s not making us sick,” said area resident Cindy Harris. “I want to hear somebody explain why it is making us sick.”

Reviewing EPD’s actions and citing the multi-media agency investigation occurring during a portion of the week, agency representative Ted Jackson received an earful of suspicion from residents. Jackson was met with a positive response after explaining that EPD Director Carol Couch might potentially execute an emergency order to close the plant if it was determined that an imminent threat to health and safety existed. He found a diminished response after explaining that such an event could be met with company officials petitioning a judge to appeal the order. Jackson was met with near hostility after inadvertently questioning the validity of published reports that the onion smell of mercaptan had been detected by numerous residents as early as Memorial Day, nearly three weeks prior to the June 20 date of the chemical’s documented arrival at the plant. It is the date PSC and EPD continue to use in their timeframe. The verbal protest by residents led to Jackson asking for a show of hands of those who had smelled mercaptan on Memorial Day. Ten of the 25 area residents in the room confirmed the smell on Memorial Day. With that, Jackson said EPD will look into the presence of mercaptan on the site from around mid-May.

One of the problems continuously experienced by residents is that, until the past week, few in governmental departments and agencies seemed to believe their reports of the time frame during which the smell was detected and the extent and duration of symptoms they have experienced. Enduring what is now two months since their troubles began, residents are now seeing action. In their mind, that action need not lead to further delays or .

“The citizens want the plant shut down during EPD’s investigation,” said petition organizer Connie Biemiller, verbalizing the sentiments so often expressed in recent weeks on street corners. “If it is not shut down we will protest against PSC and EPD. I’m not going to wait around for an elderly person to die or a child to die.”

Residents said they plan a protest of both Philip Services Corp. and EPD on Saturday at the southeast corner of Ga. Highway 74 and Oakley Industrial Boulevard unless the plant is shut down on Friday. The protest begins at 9 a.m. Angry residents cite PSC as the cause of their illnesses and EPD as the responsible agency whose incremental, yet insufficient, approach to resolving the problems plaguing their communities continues to prolong their suffering.

During Thursday’s meeting of the Fayette County Commission, Chairman Greg Dunn said Edwards’ idea of closing the plant temporarily was fine, but he wanted to take the matter a step further.

“I want it closed permanently. None of the residents in that area should have to put up with this,” he said.

Dunn added that Whitewater Creek is a big water supplier to Fayette County and Fayetteville, and the county shouldn’t have to be constantly testing the water to determine if its safe.

The commissioners applauded the county’s staff for its work, but Commissioner Linda Wells wants to make sure that if anything like this occurs in the future that government would respond even quicker.

“We could have had eve more catastrophic problems if something more toxic had escaped,” she said.

–Staff writer John Thompson contributed to this report.

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