Group wins 5-year battle to halt Taylor incinerator
Process for picking site `unacceptable,' new board rules
BYLINE: BRONSTEIN, SCOTT Scott Bronstein STAFF WRITER STAFF
DATE: July 15, 1992
PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution
EDITION: The Atlanta Constitution
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS
PAGE: D/3
The decision to place a hazardous-waste incinerator in Taylor County was thrown out by the state's Hazardous Waste Management Authority on Tuesday, putting to rest a five-year controversy that pitted a small group of rural residents against the powers of the state government. In a unanimous 12-0 vote, the authority agreed that the process used by the previous waste authority to select the Taylor site in 1988 was so seriously "flawed" as to make it "unacceptable."
The authority also voted to create a new process for selecting sites, which would incorporate
environmental considerations, rather than only political considerations.
A separate subcommittee has for some time been examining the question of whether Georgia even needs a facility. Tuesday's vote means that if a facility is found to be warranted, a new procedure would be adopted to determine where to put it.
The controversy began when Taylor commissioners voted secretly to offer tracts of privately owned land for the waste facility, sharply dividing the rural community 100 miles southeast of Atlanta and splitting friendships, families and churches.
Victory stirs emotions
On Tuesday, opponents who have made frequent trips to Atlanta to fight the facility applauded and cried when the vote was finally taken.
"It's a great victory for all the people in Taylor County," said Terry McCants, president of the Citizens for Safe Progress. "To have the vote unanimous, well it gives us a sense of vindication that we've been telling the truth all this time," he said.
"We're just so grateful," said Marie McGlaun, a grandmother whose family has farmed the land a few miles from the proposed incinerator for five generations. Visibly moved, Ms. McGlaun said, "Now we can finally pull things back together in Taylor County and make it like it was before this all happened."
The subcommittee that reviewed the selection of Taylor recommended that the authority members rescind their decision because, among other things, environmental factors were not considered and an "atmosphere of intimidation" had been created by Taylor officials.
Looking back over the controversy, authority Chairman Elliott Levitas said, "How could you look at it and not come to the conclusion something was wrong?"
Miller hails decision
Gov. Zell Miller, who appointed the new waste authority and asked members to review the previous group's decisions, is credited by many with having turned around the controversy.
Although in New York for the Democratic Convention, Mr. Miller said in prepared remarks that Tuesday's decision "proves we kept our commitment," and hailed the decision as a "great example of good government."
"We needed a scientific and environmentally sound decision, not a political one," he stated.
One reason the previous authority pushed for a facility was the belief that Georgia might no longer be able to ship the 70,000 tons of hazardous waste now sent to neighboring states.
Mr. Levitas told authority members Tuesday a recent Supreme Court decision makes it impossible for states to indiscriminately tax out-of-state waste and that "for the moment, we are out from under the hammer of that crisis."
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