fight with the Almighty is what Fayette County

commissioners started when they turned down

Bishop Luther Graham's request for sewerage last

week, Bishop said Monday.

Graham

said he wants to continue to negotiate with the

county government to try and resolve a problem

with a failed septic tank. "I don't want to

make a federal case out of it if I can help

it," he said. But at the same time, he vowed

to fight to keep his ministry, adding that he has

talked with attorneys.

Dejected

and frustrated following the County Commission

meeting last week, Graham said the group's

refusal to allow him to tap onto neighboring

Clayton County's sewer system is "just not

fair."

Graham

operates Chariots of Fire Ministries Inc. out of

his home at 1660 Ga. Highway 138 on the northern

Fayette/Clayton border. The ministry seeks to

help people who have lost their homes or jobs to

get back on their feet.

Although

interested acquaintances are working to set up a

network of support, Graham has run his ministry

for two years with no outside support, living off

his retirement and disability pay. He retired in

1990 as a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army,

he said, and entered the ministry the following

year.

People

who know Graham get emotional talking about what

he has been able to accomplish.

"He

introduced me to a lady who had been sleeping in

her car with her two children before she got in

touch with the ministry," said John Ford, a

real estate broker who works in the north Fayette

area and supports Graham's efforts.

"Within

two weeks she had a job and an apartment and the

kids were back in school. It's amazing what this

man can do," said Ford.

But

when Graham purchased the Hwy. 138 house

recently, he bought a world of trouble.

The

septic system failed, and experts have not been

able to find a way to successfully repair it.

With raw sewage sometimes seeping out of the

ground and running down the street, neighbors

have raised an outcry, and county health

officials have applied pressure to get Graham to

solve the problem.

Although

he knew there were problems with the septic

system when he bought the house, Graham said he

was sure at the time that, if he couldn't fix the

problem, a backup solution was available. Since a

Clayton County sewer line runs right next to the

2.5-acre property, and the home already receives

its water from Clayton County, Graham said he

thought he would be able to hook onto that system

for a much more satisfactory solution than the

only other one available - buying more

property next door and putting in a new septic

system.

But

after more than two hours of hand-wringing over

the decision in two separate meetings, the County

Commission last week voted 3-2, with Glen Gosa

and Herb Frady opposed, to deny Graham's request

for permission to use Clayton County's sewer

system.

Fayette

County has a decades-old policy of denying such

requests, commissioners said, for fear that once

another county's sewer line is available in

Fayette, additional users will tap on and density

of development will increase with the

availability of sewerage.

"I

don't see how this board can help you out of your

problem," said Commissioner Greg Dunn before

voting with the majority.

But

Fayette County did approve a Clayton County sewer

tap-on for Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High

School, just down the road from Graham's home,

and Graham said he feels that's evidence of

discrimination. "Call it religious or

whatever," he said.

"They'll

allow [sewerage] in for some people, and then

won't allow it in for another. It's just not

fair," Graham said following the vote.

Some

commissioners hinted that they think Graham is

using the home not only to house his own family,

but also to temporarily board homeless clients.

Water use at the residence has run as high as

25,000 gallons a month, commissioners said.

Graham

said he has at times allowed clients to wash a

load of clothes or take a shower, but he arranges

temporary boarding at local hotels. Boarding

clients at the home would be in violation of

zoning ordinances.

Having

already paid $3,200 for repairs to the septic

system that didn't work, Graham said he is paying

$675 a week to pump out his septic tank, and has

run out of money. The septic company is

threatening to place a lien on the property.

Meanwhile,

even with frequent pumping, the system continues

to leak, and Graham is under orders from the

county Health Department to solve the problem or

stop using the plumbing altogether. A new septic

system would cost $13,000, plus the cost of land

that may or not support such a system, he said.

Hooking onto Clayton sewer would cost about

$16,000, he added.

Rick

Fehr, county environmental health director, said

testing so far indicates there's simply too much

rock to put a new septic system at 1660 Hwy. 138,

and since the entire area is inundated with rock,

there's no guarantee a new piece of property will

work any better.

Graham

said he will try to negotiate and, if that

doesn't work, he is willing to fight by whatever

means necessary to keep his ministry. "I'm

willing to go to jail," he declared.

"I'm

trying to be a blessing to the local

government," said Graham as he considered

his future options Monday. "The only reason

Fayette County doesn't have homeless people

walking the street is this ministry," he

added.

But,

he added, "What they're saying is we don't

want you or your type ministry in Fayette County.

"People

think they're fighting pastor Graham," he

continued, "but they're fighting God.

Fayette County needs to know they're messing with

God."

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