The

Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority announced

Monday night its plans to respond to what it considers

unequal treatment from the state concerning two spills in

the city last year.

vote, the board agreed to notify the Environmental

Protection Division that it considers a proposed $32,000

fine "arbitrary and capricious" compared to

penalties levied recently to other municipalities for

similar incidents.

The issue

centers around two spills last summer into Lake

Peachtree. A contractor inadvertently shutting off a

valve led to about 20,000 gallons being discharged in the

first instance, according to WASA general manager Larry

Turner, while a root problem produced a spill of several

hundred gallons a few weeks later.

Turner said

the EPD categorizes spills as major or minor according to

whether more or less than 10,000 gallons is discharged.

After the

initial proposed consent order, which included the

$32,000 figure, WASA made a counterproposal of $11,000.

All other issues in the consent order were satisfactory

to the city, Turner said.

The most

recent EPD response, dated Dec. 16, said that the amount

was appropriate due mainly to the fact that Lake

Peachtree is a major water source.

Turner

disputed that assertion on the basis that the lake was

not being used at the time, and that even if it were,

WASA could have easily contacted the county and had it

taken care of. He added that test samples, which are

still being gathered, have been favorable for the city.

The main

argument Turner used was a list of recent spill totals

and monetary settlements for several other areas in metro

Atlanta. His research produced the following incidents

and resulting settlements:

Gwinnett County, Aug. 6,

for six major spills and 29 minor spills, $11,800.

Gainesville, Aug. 13, for a

500,000-gallon spill, $7,500.

DeKalb County, Oct. 15, for

three major spills that killed fish and 26 minor spills,

$56,000.

Covington, Oct. 15, for six

major spills, $6,250.

Douglasville/Douglas

County, Oct. 25, for one major spill and two minor

spills, $2,600.

Dallas, Oct. 25, for five

major spills, $2,500.

Douglasville/Douglas

County, Nov. 5, for one major spill and two minor spills,

$3,700.

Cobb County, Nov. 10, for

one major spill and 94 minor spills, $14,775.

C herokee County, Dec. 13, for one

major spill and one minor spill, $2,750.

Gainesville, Dec. 13, for a

single 400,000-gallon spill into Lake Lanier, $15,000.

Gwinnett County, for 10

major spills and 11 minor spills, $13,750.

WASA has

had a total of four spills in the past two years,

according to Turner.

"Something

doesn't seem right," he said of the discrepancy

between the dollar amount suggested for Peachtree City

and what other areas have paid.

Board vice

chairman Ted Taylor, who went with Turner to meet with

EPD officials, said he thought the amount was

"arbitrary and capricious," and while the state

denied it, he believed the city's ability to pay was a

consideration.

Board

secretary/treasurer John Williams confirmed Taylor's

suspicions by pointing out on the official EPD form that

ability to pay is listed as one of the factors in

determining the proper amount.

Turner

again addressed the question of what role a major water

source plays in assessing the penalty. He said that any

Cobb County incident would involve a portion of the

Chattahoochee River upstream from Atlanta, and the

Gainesville incident involving Lake Lanier was another

obvious example of a major water source.

When making

the motion to respond to the EPD, Taylor said that after

seeing these facts, he thought the $11,000 figure

previously suggested by Turner was probably too high, and

$5,000 would probably be more appropriate.

There has

been no comment from EPD concerning this data, which they

have not specifically seen, Turner said. But the issue of

other areas' monetary settlements came up in previous

discussions, and EPD officials would only say that all

situations are different, Turner added.

Taylor said

that the state has failed to distinguish and give reasons

why the dollar figures should be so different.

WASA is in

a "good position" legally, according to

attorney Doug Warner. Constitutional issues of equal

protection under the law come into play in this

situation, he said, and if the law is applied unequally,

then that protection is denied.

"This

is so out of line, it's not even a reasonable

variance," said Warner. "It's Draconian."

municipality's ability to pay should not be a factor in

this type of case, Warner added, saying that he could

find no rational basis for the state's decision.

Turner said

the matter is still being handled at an administrative

level, between him and EPD officials, and will continue

to be for a while if necessary. "We can go back and

forth another five or six times," he said.

But if

there is no resolution, the EPD would eventually forward

the case to the attorney general's office, at which time

Warner would become more involved, Turner said.

The board

agreed that taking a hard line in this instance was not

only favorable, but necessary.

"If we

did anything less, we would not be properly defending our

customers against unjust fees," said Williams.