Lefties Whine About Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rabun County

The Rabun County, Ga. Board of Commissioners called a special meeting on Monday, March 9, to inform newly-elected board members of the status of the former Fruit of the Loom textile plant. (Newly-elected commissioners Katheryn Granberg, Will Nichols and Tom Garrison joined Max Watts and Chairman Virgil Kilby on the board.) The county is planning a new municipal water plant on the site and is in the process of getting permits from the Environmental Protection Division. A discharge permit was applied for in February, and a 30-day public comment period for the permit will be announced soon.

The county purchased the water and sewer treatment facilities of the former Rabun Apparel, Fruit of the Loom plant in Rabun Gap in December 2007. Gibbs International of Spartanburg, S.C. bought the textile plant after Fruit of the Loom closed in 2006. Gibbs buys vacant plants to resell them. An agreement was made by Rabun County with Merrill Trust (the developers of Sky Valley Resort) for wastewater treatment.

Source: Macon County News (read the article for more info)
Hat Tip: Don Yelton (via email)

Commentary

Lefties are going to oppose this, and they are going to try to trick as many "Republicans" as possible to help them kill a possible source for new jobs for the people of Rabun County and Macon County.

The Rabun Fruit of the Loom plant employed many hundreds of Maconians, and when the plant was shut down, it hurt thousands of people in our county, including businesses that benefited from employees who spent money in our area.

Now, there is a chance that the site could be rehabilitated, and a new industry attracted to the area...or at the very least, infrastructure could be built up for Rabun County that would support an increase in population and new businesses that would benefit them, and by extension us.

The agenda of these lefties is to raise the cost of building the Waste water Treatment Plant beyond what is affordable so that the plan will be abandoned. This is a classic Alinsky Tactic and must be opposed by all right-thinking, reasonable people.

Download a pdf of the draft permit.



Here is a portion of the plan that the opposition to this plant are implementing (from the Little Tennessee Watershed Association website):

30 day Comment Period on Fruit of the Loom Plant now open!!

For over a year, we have been bringing you news of Rabun County's plans to convert the former Fruit of the Loom plant in Rabun Gap, Georgia to a municipal waste treatment plant. They have applied for their permit to dump 2 million gallons of treated sewage per day into the Little Tennessee River and that permit is now open for public comment.

***To review the draft permit, please click on the link at the bottom of this page and download the PDF file.***

Please submit a letter to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division with at least the following three requests no later than April 13, 2009:

1. Rabun County plans to use a chlorine treatment system. Please request that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division require that an Ultraviolet (UV) Treatment process be put into operation to ensure that the water quality will be good enough for the Town of Franklin to use as an alternative water supply and to protect aquatic life.

2. The State of Georgia just completed a Statewide Water Plan that outlines impacts to consider before an interbasin transfer of water is completed. Please request that these guidelines be written directly into Rabun County’s discharge permit.

3. Please request that the Georgia EPD hold a formal public hearing so that all of the various concerns and questions can be adequately addressed.

Mail your written comments to and make sure to reference Draft Permit #GA0039152:

Georgia Environmental Protection Division
Attention: Jane Hendricks
4220 International Park Dr., Suite 101
Atlanta, GA 30354

It is best to submit your comments in writing to the EPD to make sure that they become a part of the official record. To read background information, click on the "news" tab (above) and browse past LTWA newsletters, available as a PDF.

There is so much more that you can do with your request! Please click here for a more elaborate description of suggested talking points and for a list of additional people to send copies of your comments to.

I suggest that you counter their effort by writing in support of the construction of the plant, and state the economic need of the plant for the area as I have stated earlier in this post, and add additional ideas of your own.