The central

question on everybody's lips Tuesday night in a sweltering gym in College

Park was "Where's Williams?"

More than 100

people packed into the Burdette Park gym to find out answers about Williams'

efforts to build a massive power plant on Peters Road in South Fulton

County.

The meeting

was called by Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague, who said she wanted more information

on the project from experts in each field.

Williams spokeswoman

Paula Hall-Collins said Thursday that the company had decided not to attend

any more public meetings until more information is available. "We

decided it would be better for us to wait until we have more definitive

information on air quality, noise, visibility, etc.," she said.

The firm is

conducting tests, she said, with hopes of being able to answer residents'

concerns. Action has been delayed on the company's rezoning request for

that same reason, she added.

During Tuesday's

meeting, the crowd instead heard from a state Environmental Protection

Division representative who tried to explain the complexities of offsetting

pollution from the plant.

EPD's Jimmy

Johnston explained that Williams would have to create a net benefit for

the region's troubled air before EPD would issue a permit.

Johnson said

the state ratio for offsetting pollution is 1.2:1. For example, if the

company plans to emit 1,000 tons of pollution in the air, it would have

to eliminate 1,200 tons of pollution at another site in the 13-county

metro area that has failed to meet federal air quality standards.

Although he

has not received an application from Williams to start the permitting

process, Johnson said he has heard that the company plans to replace gas-powered

engines at a Henry County facility with electric engines to offset the

pollution from the South Fulton facility.

When residents

peppered him with questions about how reducing pollution in Henry County

would benefit them, Johnson said ozone pollution doesn't necessarily affect

people right at the site because it's created under certain conditions

and affects the entire region.

Johnson also

added that the state is seeing a big increase in power plant applications,

but in 30 years there had never been a site permitted like Williams is

proposing to build.

When questioned

about the 210-foot height of the proposed stacks at the plant, Johnson

said that could actually be a good thing for residents near the facility.

"The higher

the stacks means a lower impact near the facility," he said.

One of the

more emotional points of the meeting came when local opthalmologist Dr.

Floyd Davis addressed the crowd.

Davis brought

a sheath of materials to the front of the room and said it was all documented

evidence that ozone pollution causes health problems. Davis said he also

experienced the effects of ozone on a personal level.

"My mother

passed away on a high ozone day in Los Angeles," he said.

The Fulton

County Commission is not expected to vote on rezoning the property from

residential to industrial until early next year.

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