The noise around

a power plant in Heard County is starting to grate on some Coweta County

residents' nerves.

Commissioner

Jim McGuffey told the County Commission during Tuesday's meeting that

residents are heating up with their complaints. Several Coweta residents

have been active in Safeguard South Metro, a group that is fighting Williams

Company's plans to build a similar plant near Union City.

"You can

stand a half-mile from the project and hear a tremendous amount of noise.

You might as well be standing on the tarmac at Hartsfield," McGuffey

said of the Heard County plant.

McGuffey said

county planner Robert Tolleson was standing a full half-mile from the

plant and found his eyes were watering because of the fumes the plant

was emitting.

"It is

a nuisance and I hope people pursue action against them," he said.

Earlier this

year in a unique partnership, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners,

the Coweta County Rural Preservation Society and private citizens in the

county filed suit in Heard County Superior Court to try and stop construction

of the plant, which was developed by Dynegy Inc. of Houston, Texas.

During the

trial, officials from Coweta County, including County Administrator Theron

Gay, told about the repercussions the plant could have in Coweta County.

Situated in

a controversial industrial zone created by the Heard County Commission,

the Dynegy plant property extends across the Heard County line into Coweta

County.

"An out-of-state

power company is building a gas-fired power plant in Heard County,"

said lawyer George C. Rosenzweig, representing Coweta County and the Coweta

County Rural Preservation Society.

"But the

tailpipe of the plant will dump pollution in Coweta County, and Coweta

is part of the Atlanta non-attainment zone which state and federal authorities

agree is already over-polluted and must be protected."

State and federal

statutes require power plants to demonstrate that proposed emissions will

be under allowable levels, but emissions were not modeled against levels

that apply in the Atlanta non-attainment zone, in strict violation of

clean air laws, he said.

"If you

wanted to build this plant in Coweta County, you couldn't do it,"

said Rick Brown, president of the Rural Preservation Society.

"But the

Dynegy plant straddles the Coweta County line and construction continues

at a rapid pace. We want the project stopped until all zoning and clean

air issues are resolved," he said.

The Rural Preservation

Society is a 200-member organization founded in 2000 to address quality

of life issues in rural areas, including green space preservation, conservation

of natural resources, and clean air and water.

The county

eventually lost the lawsuit and the power plant started operations earlier

this year.

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