Our creeks and rivers are under attack

This letter to the editor of The Sandersville Progress was printed June 21, 2011

Three years ago when concerned local citizens came together to learn more about our community’s natural resources and how to protect them, the Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment (FACE) was organized. We are best known for our work to educate our friends and family about the very real environmental, health, and financial risks posted by coal fired Plant Washington, but FACE is more than a “one issue” group.

 

In the past two months the health of Keg Creek and the Ogeechee River, have been compromised. Local citizens asked us for help when Keg Creek began to look unhealthy. We have worked with the Altamaha Riverkeeper and the Oconee River Project staff to learn more and share contacts and information with concerned citizens.  

When the Ogeechee River was contaminated resulting in over 30,000 fish and other wildlife being killed, we updated the public with news and information as soon as it became available. The state agency charged with protecting our natural resources told FACE that it wouldn’t even post any of its own health advisories on its web site until test results were back on the fish and water!

FACE wanted to give the public an easy way to know what our state said about the river, and we, our state’s taxpayers, were turned away. Why won’t our own state agency answer our questions? And why did EPD official Burt Langley say he thought “we,” the people who pay taxes so he can work for us, wouldn’t “be dumb enough to swim with a bunch of dead fish.”

Dianna Wedincamp, the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, said during our Annual Meeting last week that the once-pristine Ogeechee is "in big trouble". Several industries are in violation of their permits. While the EPD is aware of this, she explained that they are understaffed, underfunded, and do not have enough people to cover everything they already need to cover across Georgia.

Georgians are smart enough to understand how healthy our air and water are, and we are smart enough to know that we have a lot of work to do to clean up the messes we already have. The more we learn, the more we know that we have to speak up as citizens, even when it isn’t easy.

I urge concerned citizens to help speak up for a cleaner environment. Use our website and Face Book pages for the latest updates.  Please contact FACE at www.facenvironment.org.  Call Katherine Cummings at 478.232.8010

Thank you,

Paula Swint

Warthen, Georgia

EPA is told that utility companies have had long enough to kill us

The EPA held hearings on Thursday, May 26 in consideration of  strong national standards on mercury and other toxic emissions found in our air. Mercury, a neurotoxin which can cause birth defects and developmental problems, is also recognized as a carcinogen.

Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, elected officials, physicians, health advocates, faith leaders, citizens who have lived their entire lives as next door neighbors to coal plants, and yes, environmental leaders, covered a long list of reasons for adopting, and enforcing, these standards. There were very few people who opposed them, and most were working for a company creating the toxic emissions.

Chris Hobson of the Southern Company said in his testimony that he didn't know if EPA has the authority to regulate "HAZARDOUS air pollutants like mercury." Which raises the question: if Southern Company testifies that mercury and other emissions they generate are hazardous, shouldn't they be interested in protecting us from them?

Americans have waited 21 years since stronger clean air standards were announced for consideration. My husband and I raised our daughter from birth to 21 years old in that time frame. She has lived her entire life with air that is dirtier than it has to be. Why should we or anyone else wait any longer, as industry leaders beg?

Tom Pierce with the Kentucky Sierra club summed it up nicely, "I would urge you to turn a blind ear to those who say they need more time to kill us."

Katherine Helms Cummings
FACE Executive Director     

EPD staff withhold Federal, State,and Chamber of Commerce comments from DNR Board members

The Columbus Ledger Enquirer reported today about the EPD staff did not present letters from Federal and Alabama state officials concerning proposed IBT rules, which they did not support. Letters from the Rome and Augusta Chambers of Commerce were also considered by EPD staff to be part of, "approximately 1,000 comments against the measure....from a form letter on an environmentalist web site." The entire article is here.

FACE contacted people who did submit comments, either by a letter they wrote themselves, or with a letter online. We value the time that was invested in doing that. In the future FACE will follow up with decision makers to make them aware of comments which have been sent.

We appreciate that fact that DNR Board Chair Earl Barrs was interested in what was submitted, and would have welcomed an opportunity to be aware of the comments. In the future we hope that EPD staff will better inform board members.

Katherine Helms Cummings
FACE Executive Director