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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JUNE 2. 2022
0'N6ILL OUTDOOR
BY O'KieiLL WILLIAMS
Looking for a vacation that keeps you in-state but just barely, try Crooked River State
Park to get a feel for the intra-coastal waterway and nearby Cumberland Island.
Cottages with porches and mountain scenery galore, plus
the fishing — it doesn’t get much better than Smithall Woods.
Great Georgia
parks
{O’Neill’s column ap
pears twice monthly in the
Progress, generally the first
and third weeks of the
month.}
Permit me to target three
out of the dozens of GA State
Parks for your summer with
your children. One is in cen
tral North Georgia and the
other two are on the most
southern comers of the state.
Before we begin, be advised
personally that each park is
clean, safe and inexpensive.
• Number One: Smithgall
Woods is an angler’s para
dise. One of north Georgia’s
premier trout streams, Dukes
Creek, runs through this
spectacular mountain prop
erty and is a favorite for
catch and release fishing.
Fishing is offered only on
certain days so you should
call ahead for reservations.
Not a fisherman, well the
park has five miles of trails
and 18 miles of roads allow
hikers and bicyclists to ex
plore hardwoods, streams
and wildlife.
Smithgall Woods is also
an elegant mountain retreat
with six beautifully deco
rated cottages. Some cot
tages have porches along the
stream, while others have
private hot tubs. A one-mile
trail leads from the cottages
t o
Dukes Creek Falls. It’s
worth the walk so don’t miss
it.
• Number Two: Crooked
River State Park is located
just a few miles from 1-95 on
the southern tip of Georgia’s
Coast, this park is the perfect
spot for enjoying the intra
coastal waterway and mar
itime forest covering over
500 acres with 11 roomy
cabins.
Campsites are surrounded
by palmettos and Spanish
mossdraped oaks, while cot
tages are set near the tidal
river. Just down the road is
the ferry to famous Cumber
land Island National
Seashore known for secluded
beaches and wild horses.
If you have not visited
this part of Georgia, you’ll
soon realize during your
viewing around sunrise and
sunset why this is called
Georgia’s Golden Isle.
Not equipped for coastal
fishing, well, the park’s na
ture trail winds through for
est and salt marsh, and you
will likely encounter gopher
tortoises, fiddler crabs and
greater blue herons. The park
even has a nature center fea
turing fish, snakes, turtles,
and other animals native to
coastal Georgia so don’t miss
that either.
• Number Three: The
park at lake Seminole, a
37,500-acre reservoir with
excellent boating, fishing,
and birding. 14 Cottages,
which are more like large
cabins, sit near the water’s
edge, offering excellent
views and quick access to the
lake.
O’Neill has been here
dozens of times and I’m
telling you that Seminole has
some of the best Largemouth
Bass fishing in the South and
is world famous. You’ll see
gators, ospreys, and
even bald eagles.
All three are terrific fam
ily destinations. Though be
advised Georgia state parks
are popular and finding
camping spots can be diffi
cult.
O'Neill Williams, born in
Atlanta, is host of O'Neill
Outside, which reaches
277,000,000 subscriber
households weekly on FOX
Sports Southeast and others.
His "O'Neill Outside" radio
broadcasts are heard via
WSB Radio. "O'Neill Out
side" radio is the #1 outdoor
based live radio talk show in
the country.
Find out more or contact
him at ONeiUOutside.com.
The park at Lake Seminole offers great bass fishing plus birding and a chance to spot
a gator, photos/ Ga. DNR website
IT’S GONNA
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Consultant: Georgia Power closure plan for
coal ash ponds violates federal standards
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia Power's
plan to close in place some
of its coal ash ponds violates
a federal ride prohibiting ash
to be in contact with ground-
water, an environmental con
sultant said this week.
Mark Quarles, a senior
consultant with Chicago-
based BBJ Group, testified
before the Georgia Public
Commission (PSC) during
three days of hearings on a
plan the utility submitted in
January outlining the mix of
energy sources it intends to
rely on for power generation
during the next 20 years.
Georgia Power’s 2022 In
tegrated Resource Plan
(IRP), which is updated
every three years, calls for
the company to continue
phasing out its fleet of coal-
burning plants and step up its
investment in natural gas and
renewable energy.
With the coal plants being
retired, the utility plans to
spend $9 billion to close all
29 of its ash ponds at 11
coal-burning power plants
across Georgia. While ash is
be excavated and removed
from 19 of the ponds, the
other 10 are scheduled to be
closed in place.
Coal ash contains con
taminants including mercury,
cadmium and arsenic that
can pollute groundwater and
drinking water as well as air.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) an
nounced in January it intends
to enforce a 2015 ride pro
hibiting utilities from dump
ing ash generated by
coal-burning power plants
into unlined ponds.
Any pond closures that
allow coal ash to be in con
tact with groundwater vio
late the federal ride, Quarles
testified Thursday.
Groundwater contamina
tion is common and wide
spread at [Georgia Power]
disposal areas," he said. "The
company commonly built
large unlined impoundments
in streams."
Specifically, Quarles
cited a 343-acre pond at
Plant Wansley in Heard
County, which he said con
tains more than 16 million
cubic yards of waste. An
other 550-acre pond at Plant
Scherer in Monroe County
contains more than 15 mil
lion cubic yards of waste, he
said.
Improper closures by the
company create significant
risk to ratepayers and create
unnecessary costs for the
company," he said.
Quarles said Georgia Power
to its credit decided recently
to excavate and remove ash
from one of the ponds at
Plant Wansley. He said that
should serve as a model for
other ash ponds.
Brandon Marzo, a lawyer
representing Georgia Power
at this week's hearings, said
the PSC approved the util
ity's plan for closing ash
ponds as part of its 2019 IRP.
Under both federal and state
rides, closing ponds in place
is considered equally protec
tive as excavating and re
moving the ash, he said.
Marzo also cited a docu
ment prepared by the state
Environmental Protection
Division (EPD) asserting
that closing ponds in place in
unstable areas is permissible
"if recognized and generally
accepted engineering prac
tices have been incorpo
rated."
The Georgia Power
lawyer noted the EPD al
ready has approved such a
closure plan for an ash pond
at Plant Bowen near
Cartersville, where a founda
tion improvement plan was
developed to prevent leak
age.
But Quarles said the clo
sure plan for Plant Bowen,
site of the largest Georgia
Power's largest ash pond, is
unique among the utility's
ponds.
Marzo also argued the de
scription Quarles gave of the
ash ponds at plants Wansley
and Scherer does not repre
sent the most recent informa
tion about those sites
furnished by the EPD.
"It's not what the ponds
would look like after closure
in place is completed," he
said.
The PSC will vote on
Georgia Power's 2022 IRP
this summer.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
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