Nearly 300

residents from South Fulton and Fayette counties, and some from Coweta

as well, voiced their opposition to a proposed power plant in their backyard

during a recent meeting.

Conducted at

Atlanta City Church on Old Jonesboro Road, the meeting at times resembled

an old fashioned church service with fire and brimstone pouring from residents'

mouths.

Dan Skizim,

project director for the Fulton Energy Center, took the full frontal assault

from residents who want the power plant to be built somewhere else.

The 1,230-megawatt

facility is slated for Peters Road, just off Ga. Highway 92, in Fulton

on land bordering Fayette. Residents are concerned that air pollution

generated by the plant will have regional implications.

Skizim said

the plant, to be owned by Williams Company, would bring nearly 800 jobs

to Fulton during the construction phase and 30-40 full-time, high-paying

jobs when the plant is operational.

The facility

also would generate nearly $1 million in tax revenues to Fulton County

every year, he said.

Most of the

residents were more concerned with noise and air pollution from the plant

than expected tax revenues.

Two Coweta

County residents who live near the just-completed Dynergy power plant

in Heard County urged the residents to fight.

"They'll

promise you everything, but it's not what they say it's going to be,"

said Connie Olson.

Resident after

resident questioned Skizim on how much noise the plant would generate.

While he could

not provide a decibel rating, he did say that the turbine engines would

be enclosed and the building would be enclosed, which is something that's

not usually done in the South.

"Because

of the climate, buildings are usually just left open without walls,"

he said.

Skizim said

the company is studying the noise level and will present all the information

to Fulton County officials when the studies are complete.

He did say

the engines are roughly the size of two rail cars and there would be four

engines in the plant.

Skizim also

tried to deflect residents' concerns about the safety factor by saying

there will be nothing at the facility that could explode.

Many residents

were angry that Skizim could not quantify how much pollution or noise

the facility would generate.

Skizim said

the facility would be state-of-the-art and added the company plans to

donate at least 50 percent of the tract for green space.

"This

is permanent green space for whatever the community wants," he said.

One of the

more vocal spectators was Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn.

Dunn told Skizim

that he would have had to provide far more information if he had considered

building the plant in Fayette.

"If not,

you would have been escorted out of my meeting," he said.

Dunn was also

concerned when Skizim said the "prevailing winds" would possibly

push any air pollution toward Henry County.

"All of

us who live here know the prevailing winds are coming through our county

first," Dunn said.

Under questioning

from Dunn, Skizim said the plant would produce a maximum of 500 tons of

air pollution a year.

Because Atlanta

doesn't meet federal air quality standards, the company would be required

to mitigate that pollution by reducing pollution somewhere else, and Skizim

said the firm's plan is to improve its facility in Stockbridge to make

up for pollution generated by the new plant.

"If you

do a mitigation plan it will be 30 to 40 miles away from where the pollution

is being created," Dunn said. "Is that not a concern for us?"

"Air pollution

is a regional problem," said Skizim. "The air is just swirling

around everywhere in the atmosphere. It doesn't recognize political jurisdictions."

"This

is going to hurt our quality of life," Dunn said.

The residents

pummeled Skizim with questions for more than an hour. When the meeting

ended, Skizim promised more meetings, adding that the permitting process

is expected to take a year.

Williams officials

are expected to apply to rezone the tract from residential to industrial

this week with Fulton County. The Fulton Commission probably won't vote

on the issue until after Labor Day.