Two important updates from Lee Becker and the Friends of Barber Creek
Dear Friends,
I want to call your attention to two items of significance to those of us concerned about water and other environmental issues affecting Oconee County.
First is a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday (January 22) in Masters Hall in the Georgia Center on the University of Georgia campus to discuss the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, which would be located on South Milledge avenue near the Middle Oconee River separating Clarke and Oconee counties.
At the meeting, Edward Hammond, U.S. director of the Sunshine Project, an international watchdog agency opposed to biological warfare, will be speaking. Hammond is being brought to Athens by FAQ, a local group trying to make sure people are informed about the project.
The second item is the public notice that Walton County is seeking a reissuance of its permit to discharge 3.4 million gallons per day of treated sewage water to Jacks Creek, a tributary to the Apalachee. As a point of reference, the proposed upgrade to the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant will discharge 1 million gallons per day of treated water to Barber Creek, though the County has said the plant ultimately could be expanded to handle 4 million gallons per day of sewage. Oconee County also has done preliminary permit work to discharge some of that water into the Apalachee.
Walton and Oconee also plan to withdraw water from the Apalachee--upstream from Jacks Creek--for the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir, though Oconee forfeited its 1.8 million gallons per day permit to withdraw water from the Apalachee when it joined Hard Labor Creek.
Any idea that the Apalachee is somehow a protected stream should be abandoned. It is increasingly feeling the same strain from development as the other streams in the Oconee basin, including Barber Creek. Those interested in the Walton permit reissuance should contact the state EPD quickly. Let me know if you need any additional information.
Lee
Lee Becker
lbbecker@mindspring.com
I want to call your attention to two items of significance to those of us concerned about water and other environmental issues affecting Oconee County.
First is a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday (January 22) in Masters Hall in the Georgia Center on the University of Georgia campus to discuss the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, which would be located on South Milledge avenue near the Middle Oconee River separating Clarke and Oconee counties.
At the meeting, Edward Hammond, U.S. director of the Sunshine Project, an international watchdog agency opposed to biological warfare, will be speaking. Hammond is being brought to Athens by FAQ, a local group trying to make sure people are informed about the project.
The second item is the public notice that Walton County is seeking a reissuance of its permit to discharge 3.4 million gallons per day of treated sewage water to Jacks Creek, a tributary to the Apalachee. As a point of reference, the proposed upgrade to the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant will discharge 1 million gallons per day of treated water to Barber Creek, though the County has said the plant ultimately could be expanded to handle 4 million gallons per day of sewage. Oconee County also has done preliminary permit work to discharge some of that water into the Apalachee.
Walton and Oconee also plan to withdraw water from the Apalachee--upstream from Jacks Creek--for the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir, though Oconee forfeited its 1.8 million gallons per day permit to withdraw water from the Apalachee when it joined Hard Labor Creek.
Any idea that the Apalachee is somehow a protected stream should be abandoned. It is increasingly feeling the same strain from development as the other streams in the Oconee basin, including Barber Creek. Those interested in the Walton permit reissuance should contact the state EPD quickly. Let me know if you need any additional information.
Lee
Lee Becker
lbbecker@mindspring.com
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