State environmental officials

collected more samples of Fayette County's drinking water Tuesday after

running tests on earlier samples in a search for answers to reports of

a sweet odor to the water.

Results of the first tests

were not available as of Tuesday afternoon. Lab workers were testing for

chemical agents, specifically glycol, a chemical used in deicing operations

at Hartsfield International Airport.

One resident had put forth

the theory that glycol from deicing during the Atlanta area's recent snow

storm found its way into the Flint River, which supplies much of Fayette's

drinking water.

The Citizen learned this week

that there also was a recent spill of deicing chemicals at the airport,

but no details were available at press time.

Officials of the state Environmental

Protection Division also collected samples from Griffin, where residents

also have complained of an odor.

Fayette Water System director

Tony Parrott asked the state to test the water last week after his office

received about 50 phone calls complaining of the odor.

One resident, Patty Culjak,

complained that officials at the Water System and in the county government

showed a lack of concern about what she considers a potentially serious

problem, but Parrott said the system is doing all it can to find the source

of the odor and correct it.

"I have no idea at this

point how my baby's been affected by it," Culjak said last week.

Culjak, who is expecting, said

she first noticed the odor about two weeks ago but "didn't pay too

much mind at first."

But as time went on and the

smell persisted, she decided to phone the water system.

Apparently others went through

the same thought process, because the system was deluged with about 50

phone calls Monday, Jan. 14, all from south Fayette, mostly Peachtree

City, said Parrott.

Culjak said her husband filed

a complaint last Tuesday with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Meanwhile, at EPD's suggestion,

Fayette has been feeding carbon into the system to remove any chemical

contaminants that may be in the water, and the South Fayette Treatment

Plant, which takes water from the Flint River, was shut down. Parrott

said he expected to restart the plant by today, following a thorough cleaning.

Culjak said she is frustrated

that EPD and the water system aren't issuing a county-wide warning not

to drink the water.

But Jim Banks of EPD's Drinking

Water Program said, "The water, I think, is safe." But he said

each customer must decide personally whether to drink it.

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