Residents in Fayette and south

Fulton counties have joined forces to try and convince Williams Corporation

to locate a proposed Fulton Energy Center somewhere else.

Williams has announced plans

to build a 1,230-megawatt capable energy center on 288 acres between Peters

Road and Old Jonesboro Road. The land, all in south Fulton, abuts the

Fayette County border and stretches to just below the Union City electric

substation.

The land is currently zoned

agricultural. Williams is in the process of requesting that the parcel

be rezoned to M-2 (heavy industrial).

Representatives from the surrounding

neighborhoods and homes, as well as individuals from Fayette, Coweta,

Clayton and Fulton have formed an organization they have named Safeguard

South Metro, to "stop the power plant from ruining a beautiful section

of our counties," said Mari Jo Palidino, one of the initial organizers.

Williams representatives say

the plant will be clean-running and surrounded by buffers and green space.

The neighborhood group met

Monday night to continue its discussion of the proposed plant.

A town hall meeting June 23

with Williams representatives "left more questions unanswered than

answered," said Palidino.

Williams officially announced

plans regarding the plant in April of this year and began contacting homeowners,

business leaders, religious leaders and other officials in the same month.

The process to locate an appropriate site began in the fall of 2000, according

to Dan Skizim, project director.

According to company documents,

the site in south Fulton was chosen based on a number of factors, including

its proximity to a source of natural gas, electric transmission facilities,

power substation, availability of water, and the availability of a parcel

of land of sufficient size for the 30- to 35-acre power plant.

Williams currently has options

on a roughly U-shaped piece of property that surrounds property owned

plant will be just north of the Fayette County line toward the bottom

left leg of the "U." Williams has designated that a portion

of land, which will include an 82.37-acre tract on the opposite side of

the property, will be left as green space for the community. The exact

amount of land to be designated has not been determined.

Since the newly designated

Safeguard South Metro group first began organizing a few months ago, the

group has been growing. Currently a core group of approximately 30 representatives

have formed a steering committee. Palidino said many others have volunteered

to help in distributing flyers, doing research and contacting neighbors.

"We have a lengthy list

of individuals who have said they would like to help in convincing our

elected officials that it is not in the best interests of the community

to place a plant of this nature in the middle of a residential area."

One of their first tasks was

to begin collecting signatures on a petition that they plan to submit

to south Fulton legislators and other officials. According to Palidino,

they began collecting signatures toward the end of June and have obtained

"well over 300 names without a lot of effort thus far."

Members of the group voiced

a number of concerns. Ed Williams, whose property lies in both south Fulton

and Fayette, said he got involved after a neighbor talked with him. He

noted that when he purchased his 22 acres approximately two years ago,

"I thought I had found a piece of heaven. The most noise I ever heard

in the morning was the geese honking." He said that as he now understands

it, his property, which includes Green Valley Lake, backs right up to

the plant.

Allen Ken has lived in the

Peters Road area since he was 5 years old. He said his mother has asthma

and that the family is concerned about the health aspects of having a

plant in the area. He said, "When I stand on my front porch, I can

already see the light and a good portion of the tower on the property."

He had questions regarding the lights, visibility and noise in addition

to health concerns.

Homeowners from Wagon Wheel

Road, Davis Road, Peters Road, Westbridge Road and other neighborhoods

in Fayette County are involved with the newly formed Safeguard group.

Most voiced concerns regarding air pollution and property values. One

noted that while in south Fulton the area may become entirely industrial

at some point, on the Fayette County side that will not happen.

Members of the core group include

a teacher, one or more ministers, a real estate broker, an engineer, a

CPA, a former air traffic controller, a Realtor, a retired legal secretary,

a few medical professionals and others. Some members live in the nearby

Christian City retirement community, some in the immediate area and others

come from Peachtree City, Newnan and Riverdale. A few individuals do not

live in the area, but work or have business concerns there.

Currently the group is developing

strategy and is setting up a Web site to push its point of view, www.NoPowerPlant.org ,

which is expected to be operational within the week.

Information regarding meeting

dates, zoning meetings and issues and group members' concerns about health,

safety, noise and pollution will be included on the site, along with links

to related sites.

Williams also has a Web site

offering information, www.FultonEnergyCenter

.com .

A main contact phone number

for Safeguard South Metro was set up, 770-969-4884.

In the immediate future, the

group plans to conduct community meetings and, "We are available

to any group, organization, homeowners association, church group - whoever.

If they will just call, we will have someone at the meeting," said

Palidino.

Williams also is continuing

to contact community leaders. "We are very happy and willing to talk

with anyone who is interested," said Skizim. He said the company's

approach is a "180-degree different approach" than the way a

recent power plant approval was handled in the Heard/Coweta region. "Our

goal is to educate and to make all of the facts available."

To contact members of Safeguard

South Metro, call 770-964-4884. To contact Dan Skizim with Williams Energy,

call 770-964-9411.

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