Oconee County is going to dump sewer water in Barber Creek
Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc.
P. O. Box 1301
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Following is the text of an e mail from Lee Becker, Friends of Barber Creek with details of the issues to be raised at the hearing on the Barrow County proposal to dump treated sewer water into Barber Creek. Looks like Oconee and Barrow will turn little Barber Creek into a river of treated sewer water. Despite all the promises, citizens who live along or near this creek should be very concerned.
Charles Baugh
President
Dear Friends:
As many of you were informed by mail today, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division, will hold a public hearing on the Barrow County request for a permit to dump treated wastewater into Barber Creek. Our group produced more than 80 letters asking for this hearing. This is a sign of our success. Now we must be prepared to attend the hearing and present our case.
The hearing on the Barrow County request will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, at the Barrow County Board of Commissioners Board Room #315 , 233 E. Broad St., Winder.
Significant questions need to be raised about this permit request. Among them are the following:
1. The August 5, 2005, application is for a 0.5 MGD cold weather discharge into Barber Creek, yet the EPD proposes to grant a 0.5 MGD per day discharge permit, with no restriction to cold weather, as well as an additional permit to discharge 1.0 MGD per day. Why?
2. Barber Creek currently floods often. What will be the impact of the Barrow County discharges on flooding downstream from the plant? Oconee County also is seeking a permit to dump 0.6 MGD of treated wastewater into the creek and has calculated that this discharge will increase the water level in Barber Creek by just under 3/4th of an inch. Oconee County is discussing the possibility of seeking permits to discharge up to 4 MGD from its plant on Rocky Branch Road.
3. Experts from the firm of Jordan, Jones & Goulding, in a draft report presented to Oconee County in March of 2004, stated on Page 3-5:
"For Oconee County the surface streams with large enough flows to receive treated discharges are considered to be the Apalachee, Middle Oconee, and Oconee Rivers. The other streams, such as Barber Creek and Calls Creek, are considered to be too small to receive a substantial quantity of treated flow."
Barber Creek is even smaller in Barrow County. What evidence is there that Jordan, Jones & Goulding were wrong in their assessment of the capacity of Barber Creek?
4. The draft permit for Barrow County specifies actions that must be taken by Barrow County in the event of a spill of untreated sewage or sewage treated at a lower standard than covered by your proposed permit. None of these courses of action will protect residents who live downstream from the plant. Given the level of development along the creek, why is the proper course of action not to disallow any discharge into Barber Creek?
5. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the Barrow County plant is already under construction. Why was that allowed, when no permit has been issued?
I'm trying to locate a place for all of us to meet in the first week of May to discuss these and other issues facing Barber Creek.
We now have a web site for Friends of Barber Creek. Please check out www.barbercreek.org and let Eleanor Cotton, our webmaster, know of any additional links, pictures or other materials that could be displayed there.
Thanks
Lee
Becker
lbbecker@mindspring.com
P. O. Box 1301
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Following is the text of an e mail from Lee Becker, Friends of Barber Creek with details of the issues to be raised at the hearing on the Barrow County proposal to dump treated sewer water into Barber Creek. Looks like Oconee and Barrow will turn little Barber Creek into a river of treated sewer water. Despite all the promises, citizens who live along or near this creek should be very concerned.
Charles Baugh
President
Dear Friends:
As many of you were informed by mail today, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division, will hold a public hearing on the Barrow County request for a permit to dump treated wastewater into Barber Creek. Our group produced more than 80 letters asking for this hearing. This is a sign of our success. Now we must be prepared to attend the hearing and present our case.
The hearing on the Barrow County request will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, at the Barrow County Board of Commissioners Board Room #315 , 233 E. Broad St., Winder.
Significant questions need to be raised about this permit request. Among them are the following:
1. The August 5, 2005, application is for a 0.5 MGD cold weather discharge into Barber Creek, yet the EPD proposes to grant a 0.5 MGD per day discharge permit, with no restriction to cold weather, as well as an additional permit to discharge 1.0 MGD per day. Why?
2. Barber Creek currently floods often. What will be the impact of the Barrow County discharges on flooding downstream from the plant? Oconee County also is seeking a permit to dump 0.6 MGD of treated wastewater into the creek and has calculated that this discharge will increase the water level in Barber Creek by just under 3/4th of an inch. Oconee County is discussing the possibility of seeking permits to discharge up to 4 MGD from its plant on Rocky Branch Road.
3. Experts from the firm of Jordan, Jones & Goulding, in a draft report presented to Oconee County in March of 2004, stated on Page 3-5:
"For Oconee County the surface streams with large enough flows to receive treated discharges are considered to be the Apalachee, Middle Oconee, and Oconee Rivers. The other streams, such as Barber Creek and Calls Creek, are considered to be too small to receive a substantial quantity of treated flow."
Barber Creek is even smaller in Barrow County. What evidence is there that Jordan, Jones & Goulding were wrong in their assessment of the capacity of Barber Creek?
4. The draft permit for Barrow County specifies actions that must be taken by Barrow County in the event of a spill of untreated sewage or sewage treated at a lower standard than covered by your proposed permit. None of these courses of action will protect residents who live downstream from the plant. Given the level of development along the creek, why is the proper course of action not to disallow any discharge into Barber Creek?
5. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the Barrow County plant is already under construction. Why was that allowed, when no permit has been issued?
I'm trying to locate a place for all of us to meet in the first week of May to discuss these and other issues facing Barber Creek.
We now have a web site for Friends of Barber Creek. Please check out www.barbercreek.org and let Eleanor Cotton, our webmaster, know of any additional links, pictures or other materials that could be displayed there.
Thanks
Lee
Becker
lbbecker@mindspring.com
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