Fulton's neighbor

to the south, Fayette County, has "a big problem on our hands"

in a proposed power plant in Fulton near Union City, says Fayette's commission

chairman.

Chairman Greg

Dunn and County Attorney Bill McNally met Monday with attorneys and officials

of Williams Corp., the company that wants to build the 1,230-megawatt

facility on Peters Road between Ga. highways 92 and 138.

Following a

town hall meeting in Fulton recently, Dunn said he talked with Fulton

County Commission Chairman Mike Kenn and urged him to oppose the company's

plans.

The firm wants

the Fulton commission to change the zoning of 288 acres from residential

to industrial to allow for the plant. The facility would use 30 acres,

with the rest devoted to green space, Williams has pledged.

"It depends

completely on whether or not Fulton County will rezone to industrial,"

Dunn said. "If they do, the largest power plant in the country will

go right on our border."

Company officials

Monday "tried to convince me that it's no big deal and it wasn't

going to be a danger to anyone," Dunn told The Citizen Tuesday. But

they failed to allay his concerns, he added. "Nothing changed at

this point," he said.

During the

town hall meeting, Dunn and other Fayette residents aired concerns over

air pollution and noise the plant might generate, and company officials

admitted the facility could dump as much as 500 tons of nitric oxide into

the air each year.

"Citizens'

groups are very upset about this," Dunn told fellow commissioners.

"They [Fulton] get the money; we get the pollution and the clean

air goes to Henry County." (Company officials have promised to improve

a Stockbridge facility to reduce pollution as mitigation for the additional

pollution coming from the Fulton plant.)

Dunn said after

meeting with the company officials, he is even more concerned about the

pollution. The 500 tons of nitric oxide, he said, "is equivalent

to what 26,000 cars would do over a year. Do you want 26,000 cars outside

your back yard?"

He urged the

company to conduct a town hall meeting in Fayette to present information

and get comments from local residents, but he said the company wants to

meet with community leaders in the north Fayette area first.

"It was

a good meeting," he said, with company officials vowing to try and

convince Dunn that there is no danger from the plant.

But even if

there's not, he said, he still opposes putting the massive plant where

the Williams company wants to put it, because it's between two residential

areas, one in Fayette and one in Fulton.

County officials

will continue to review environmental impact information supplied by Williams'

consultants, and Dunn said if necessary he will ask the County Commission

to authorize hiring its own consultant to advise the county.

Fulton commissioners

are expected to take up the matter late this summer.

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