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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA1 JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 2009 — PAGE 5A
Live Nativity in Danielsville
Jake McGee, 5, Danielsville is greeted by a camel at the Live Nativity scene on
Booger Hill Road Saturday night. Photos by Zach Mitcham
Briannah Daniel, 11;
Stephanie Daniel, 7;
Kaila Morgan, 10; and
Brooklynn Morgan, 6;
enjoy the Live Nativity
scene on Booger Hill
Road Saturday.
Incinerator .cont’dfrom 1A
released from the facility could
have on surrounding residents.
He told Madison County resi
dents that they are fortunate in
the fact that wind typically blows
east, meaning the incinerator
toxins might be pushed away
from the county. But he said the
potential for severe pollution of
the environment is very real.
“In one year, a similar waste
incinerator in Charleston, S.C.,
(scheduled to close down in
2010) released over 700,000
pounds of sulfur dioxide, over
4,000 pounds of lead and over
1,000 pounds of mercury into
the air,” said Felt. “... Elements
like mercury cannot be broken
down into less toxic substances,
but burning reduces the size of
the particles so that they can
be released into the air. These
tinier particles are actually more
dangerous, because they can
be absorbed by the lungs and
released into the bloodstream.”
Elbert County commissioners
are considering a proposal by
GreenFirst LLC for a $440-450
million trash incinerator, which
would also create steam for elec
tricity. They say they haven’t
finalized a site for the project,
but a proposed locale is on 220
to 250 acres owned by Holland
Ware. The tract is accessed by an
unpaved road off Hwy. 72, three
miles from the Madison County
line. According to a handout
from the Citizens’ group, the site
is “over a half mile from the
Broad River.”
GreenFirst Chief Executive
Officer Ernest Kaufman attend
ed Tuesday’s meeting, fielding
numerous questions from the
audience.
Kaufman explained that
his company is the permitting
agency for the project and will
not actually operate the busi
ness. Another company, possi
bly Covanta Energy, will ran the
facility.
He said opponents of the incin
erator have the “chief objective
of creating fear and uncertainty
through rumor and innuendo.”
“What we submit, we’ll have
to do line by line,” he said.
Kaufman said his company is
environmentally conscious and
pointed to a large stream buffer
at the landfill recently opened in
Meriwether, Georgia.
“It’s actually wrapped around
the landfill,” said Kaufman, not
ing that the buffer project cost
$f0 million.
Terry Brown of the Northeast
Georgia Regional Commission
said he was disturbed by the neg
ative tone of Tuesday’s meeting.
He said there was a lot of infor
mation presented that is “slanted
and not factual.”
“A lot of this stuff is slanted
in a direction to the negative,
which I think is premature,” said
Brown. “... I’m concerned about
the tone of this meeting.”
Felt said he approached the
proposal with an open mind. He
said he was interested in the idea
of converting trash to electricity.
“But this is not an electricity
business,” said Felt. “It’s about
trash. There’s very little positive
about this business.”
Felt said there’s no “rumor or
innuendo” in the fact that mercu
ry and other toxins are harmful to
the body. He added that the oper
ators of the incinerator will only
be tested by the Environmental
Protection Division twice a year,
leaving a real opportunity for
manipulation of numbers.
A number of others at the
meeting said they have a hard
time believing Kaufman’s assur
ances that the facility will be
safe, considering that GreenFirst
won’t actually be responsible
for running the business. It will
obtain the permits for the proj
ect, then sell the incinerator to
another company.
“How are you going to stick to
the permits if you’re not going to
operate the facility?” Madison
County resident Kat Gilmore
asked Kaufman.
Felt likened GreenFirst to
those who profited from “flip
ping houses.”
“They’re flipping incinerators,”
he said.
Madison County resident Doug
Epps said Elbert County citizens
should consider who their elected
officials answer to — the citizens
or GreenFirst.
Meanwhile, Madison County
resident Ed Gilmore suggested
that the citizens’ group push
for an independent analysis of
the proposal from a third party,
pointing out that citizens have a
hard time accepting safety assur
ances from a business driven by
economic interests, while oth
ers may not accept the informa
tion presented by an opponents’
group.
“Why not get an independent
firm to get honest, unbiased
information?” asked Gilmore.
The proposed incinerator will
bring in an estimated 50 jobs.
Rev. Dallas Martin said the
economic benefit is not worth the
environmental price.
“A plant is going to come in
here with all this toxic waste and
employ just 50 people?” asked
Martin, drawing applause.
One opponent referred to the
incinerator as “the dinosaur” of
waste disposal — a “costly and
inefficient” practice, not seen
elsewhere in Georgia.
“If this is so good, why is no
one else doing it?” one opponent
asked.
A number of citizens voiced
concerns about how fast the pro
posal is being pushed by Elbert
County commissioners and
how little public input has been
sought.
The Elbert BOC is now
waiting for a Development of
Regional Impact (DRI) study to
be completed by the Northeast
Georgia Regional Commission.
The completion date is expected
in mid-January.
Kevin Lewis of Citizens for
Public Awareness said he feels
Elbert County leaders haven’t
been forthright in presenting the
proposal. He said information
from those pushing the project is
hazy and hard to trust, noting, for
instance, that Kaufman assured
the audience Tuesday that trash
will not be taken to the facility
by rail fine. However, Lewis read
a copy of minutes from a recent
meeting between the EPD and
GreenFirst. In that meeting, a
GreenFirst representative told the
EPD that trash would not “ini
tially” be transported by rail fine.
No commissioners offered
opinions on the matter Tuesday.
“We (the citizens’ group) have
acted hastily because this is being
slammed down our throats,” said
Lewis.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BOC should have
to answer for budget
Dear Editor:
The Board of
Commissioners passed the
budget for 2010 and they
are very self-congratulatory
about what an austere budget
it is.
I am left with several ques
tions. I know the BOC will
say I should have spoken up
during the public input por
tions of the budget hearings,
but I have learned a lesson
about that. I have tried many
times to speak on what I
felt are important matters,
only to have them limit my
time, or place themselves
above answering questions
from ordinary citizens such
as myself.
For instance, I’m thinking
about the Madison County
employees who have been
told they will be losing part
of their earned holiday pay.
They, for example, may
share my interest in the bud
get item for board of tax
assessor members" pay. (Or
maybe they would seriously
like a job on the BOA.)
After the previous BOA
members (including myself)
were fired, we were replaced
by a board of three mem
bers who only meet once a
month. The budget of $8,400
for 2010 works out to $300
per meeting for the chair
man and $200 per meeting
for each of the other two
members. So think about
this - records show that the
Aug. 19 meeting lasted only
15 minutes, so the chair
man was paid $20 per min
ute. Each of the other two
members were paid $13 per
minute. Yes you read it right
- those dollar amounts were
per minute.
Their first three meetings
lasted a total of one hour and
30 minutes. Is it possible that
$2,100 was divided among
three people for working one
and a half hours? Fantastic
figures, if you’re on the
receiving end of them.
I"m sure the BOC mem
bers would just brush my
comments off, saying I'm a
disgruntled fired member of
the BOA. Yes, I am a fired
member and I am certainly
disgruntled, but it has always
been about the way your
property values (and mine)
are being set and the way
some of our taxes are spent
(spell that “wasted’). There
is an old saying, “ignorance
is bliss.” Don’t choose to be
blissful about being ignorant,
ask questions and demand
answers, but good luck on
getting them.
Sincerely,
Jim R. Escoe Sr.
Colbert
Let’s establish a health care
system that would really work
Dear Editor:
In another twist of words,
corporate America has suc
ceeded in making them
selves a lot more profitable
at your expense. Instead of
quality health care for all
of us we are about to get
mandatory insurance for all
of us.
Believe me there is a
big difference between the
two. Insurance for all of
us means we will all be
paying for health insurance.
This does not mean we will
have better health care it
only means we will all have
insurance and that for the
insurance companies is,
as the say, “Money in the
bank!”
The idea that insurance
will make health care better
is just not true! What it will
do is put your health care
in the hands of an indus
try where profit, not your
health, is the most impor
tant thing. When it comes
down to your health or their
profits which way do you
think the decisions will go?
Which way have they gone
in the past? We don’t need
insurance. What we need
is quality health care that’s
affordable and available to
every one. A plan where
your health, not cost, is
always the first consider
ation and what you need
to stay healthy is available
to you when you need it.
The Madison County
Journal is your source
for local news.
Subscribe by calling
706-795-2567.
To accomplish this health
care needs to be wrestled
away from the profiteers
and speculators of the for
profit system we now have.
The only way to make that
happen is to have a govern
ment, we the people, run
single payer national health
care system.
There are already coun
tries that have this type of
health care system in place
and it works well. In fact,
the top health care systems
in the world are set up this
way. For those of you who
believe we have the best
system in the world look at
this fact. According to the
World Health Organization,
France is first and has a
national health care system
in place. We are rated 37 th—
right behind Costa Rica and
Dominica and right in front
of Slovenia. That’s quite
a ways from the best and
leaves plenty of room for
improvement.
We need to work towards
a health care system that
puts people in front of
profit. Don’t be swayed by
those crying out that it’s
too expensive. We already
pay the most for the health
care we receive and with a
37 th rating it would appear
that we’re not getting what
we’re paying for. National
health care would not be
free, but it may actually
cost you less than you’re
paying now. Consider the
fact that almost everything
you buy, your car, your
home, your food, almost
everything has health care
costs to the company who
supplies it built into the
price. You are paying for
that health care! Every time
you make a purchase you’re
paying for someone else’s
health care.
With a well-designed and
thought-out health care
system in place, some of
these hidden costs would
be eliminated. Paying less
for the things we buy could
easily offset the cost to you
for a national health care
system. The key to a suc
cessful system is taking the
necessary time to make it
right for every one.
We should not be rushing
to get something (anything)
in place before the end of
this year. Anything will just
not work! Another year or
two or three spent on work
ing out all the details is
really not that long a time to
wait for a system that will
provide quality health care
at an affordable price for
every one. Let’s slow down,
stop all the yelling, and
work towards a health care
system that would really
work. Once that’s accom
plished we just might find
we would all feel better.
Sincerely,
Drago Tesanovich
Call 245-2695
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