Newspaper Page Text
Established in 1882
Vol. 129, No. 38 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - $1.00
An aerial photo shows excavation progress where Plant Vogtle's units 3 and 4 will be built.
Digging into the future
Progress at Plant Vogtle marked by excavation, hiring
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetmecitizen.com
Twenty hours a day. weather
permitting, the dual-wheel
tractors pull dirt pans across the
landscape. Each pass skims an
other few inches of soil from
the surface, and when condi
tions are right, each hole will
measure roughly one foot
deeper at the day’s end.
By the new year, the sites
slated for units three and four
at Plant Vogtle should be exca
vated to a depth of 80 and 50
feet, respectively.
The machines and the work
ers who operate them will con
tinue until the craters extend 90
feet into the earth, a goal ex
pected to be reached by early
2010.
“You’re seeing history in the
making,’’ 30-year Plant Vogtle
veteran Elbe Daniel says, ges
turing to the excavation site.
Plant Vogtle’s expansion ef
forts should yield the first
nuclear reactors completed in
the U.S. in nearly 30 years.
When they do come online.
Plant Vogtle will be the largest
commercial nuclear plant in the
United States and the only one
with four reactors.
Southern Nuclear’s Beth Tho
mas says those reactors are the
most logical way to provide
power in Georgia, which is ex
pected to add another 4 million
residents, the equivalent of an
other Atlanta, by the year 2030.
For Burke County and the
surrounding area, many see
those holes as less about his
tory and more about digging
out of a tough economy.
Some 600 workers are al
ready toiling all day and be
neath the glow of stadium
lights through most of the
night. Most of those workers
have been employed by general
contractor, The Shaw Group,
and others work for the Mor
gan Company, a subcontractor
on site. Some have been
brought in by Southern Com
pany.
According to Plant Vogtle’s
Mike McCracken, around 50
percent of those have been
hired from within 50 miles of
the plant.
Shaw is expected to open up
a hiring center on Tobacco
Road in south Augusta next
month, and local officials are
working with the company to
develop a training program that
will improve Burke County
residents’ chances of landing
jobs.
- See Vogtle, page 13
Crews are working 20 hours a day to excavate the
site to a depth of 90 feet.
NRC INSPECTION
ACTIVITIES
Representatives of the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion outlined the agency’s plans
to oversee construction at Plant
Vogtle.
The NRC will inspect vari
ous aspects of the project,
ranging from the design of the
reactors and ensuring all com
ponents are built as designed
to quality assurance and moni
toring the suitability of employ
ees who work at the site.
Under a limited work autho
rization (LWA) that was issued
by the NRC in August, construc
tion activities allowed at the site
include excavation, placement
of backfill, pouring lean con
crete, and installing mudmats
and a waterproof membrane.
In October, Southern
Nuclear applied for another
LWA that would allow for the
placement of rebar, concrete
and buried items for the nuclear
island base mat.
Grand Jury indicts 10 for burglaries, property crimes
By Elizabeth Billips
lizbillips@yahoo.com
Superior Court will soon be
inundated with property crime
cases.
The grand jury has returned
indictments on 10 defendants
implicated in a host of prop
erty crimes, including seven
burglaries.
The jury returned a true bill
on Joseph Bennett IV for bur
glaries on Blakeney Street and
Freedom Way, as well as
felony obstruction and interfer
ence with government property
charges stemming from an in
cident in October in which he
allegedly overturned a confer
ence table onto of an investi
gator who was questioning
him.
Michael Conrad Holder was
indicted for two burglaries and
three thefts in the
Middleground Road area, in
addition to two felony counts
of criminal damage to property
stemming from the stripping of
air conditioners. Holder’s co
defendant Ricky Ray Ross was
indicted for one of the burglar
ies, all three thefts and with
damaging two properties.
The jury found enough evi
dence to indict Cole Lee Teal
with a burglary charge made
by the Sardis police, along six
other charges including three
for theft by taking.
Charlie Frank Wimberly Jr.
was indicted on an August 2009
charge for burglarizing his
brother’s home on Susie Bailey
Road.
Others indicted for property
crimes include:
• Veshawn Dominique Coo
per: entering an automobile
with the intent to commit a
theft;
• Reginald Jerome Harris:
theft by taking;
• Derek Adam Hill: theft by
taking and criminal damage to
property in the second degree
(two counts);
• Clifford Edwin Palmer:
theft by taking; and
• Robert Robinson Jr.: theft
by receiving stolen property.
Twenty three other defen
dants were indicted, including
three men arrested for operat
ing methamphetamine labs and
a husband and wife accused of
setting fire to buildings at
Wade and Millhaven planta
tions. They include:
• Robert Joseph Gravell:
manufacturing methamphet
amine, manufacturing meth
amphetamine in the presence of
a child and possession of a fire
arm during the commission of
a crime;
• John Paul Herrington
Pierce: manufacturing meth
amphetamine, manufacturing
methamphetamine in the pres
ence of a child and possession
of a firearm during the com
mission of a crime;
• Christopher Scott Quick:
manufacturing methamphet
amine (two counts);
• Jerry Lynn Harden: arson
in the second degree (two
counts);
• Linda Harden: arson in the
second degree (two counts);
• Diondre Kason Bacon: pos
session of a controlled sub
stance with intent to distribute,
possession of a firearm during
the commission of a crime and
carrying a concealed weapon;
• Tom Cuyler III: possession
of a controlled substance with
intent to distribute;
- See Indictments, page 13
EVENT;
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