Fayette State

Rep. Kathy Cox has a lot of questions about the recent chemical spill

at Hartsfield International Airport that likely contaminated Fayette County's

drinking water several weeks ago.

Why was the

spill into the Flint River originally reported at just 250 gallons and

the latest reports are over 30,000 gallons leaked from the airport?

Who is responsible?

And what will

keep it from happening again?

These and other

questions may or may not be answered at a special meeting today that Cox

is hosting for local citizens. Airport Manager Ben DeCosta is one of the

guests scheduled to appear along with representatives of the Fayette County

Water Department.

The meeting

is slated for 4 p.m. at City Hall in Peachtree City.

Cox brought

up her questions to fellow legislators Tuesday afternoon as she testified

to a special subcommittee that is studying a proposed bill to change how

Hartsfield is managed. Currently, the airport is operated by the city

of Atlanta but some Republican legislators, including Minority Whip Lynn

Westmoreland of Sharpsburg, want to change that.

For her part,

Cox said Fayette residents who were inconvenienced by the sweet-smelling

water deserve some answers.

"If the

facility for de-icing holds about 120,000 gallons and I was told approximately

175,000 gallons were used that day, where did that 55,000 gallons worth

of antifreeze go?" Cox asked.

"Who's

responsible ... and how do we hold them responsible?"

Cox noted that

Fayette residents have no voice in the operation at Hartsfield although

they are affected by noise and air pollution from the airport.

Although Cox

said she knew about the airport's economic impact on Fayette in terms

of jobs provided, she added that she is learning about how it can affect

the county environmentally because of this issue.

After the hearing,

Cox said she planned to stay out of the airport management debate until

news broke of the contaminated water affecting south Fayette residents,

many of whom live in Peachtree City.

Cox also wants

to know how the state EPD approved the de-icing facility at Hartsfield,

saying it is only three years old.

"We have

to have some kind of accountability," Cox said.

The county

water department shut down one of its treatment plants for several days

while the extent of the contamination was probed. One of the samples taken

from a residence yielded "trace" amounts of antifreeze, which

is used to de-ice airplanes at Hartsfield during cold weather spells.

The subcommittee

plans to hear from "experts" on the proposal to change the operating

structure of Hartsfield. One state representative protested the change,

saying the new administration in Atlanta under new mayor Shirley Franklin

should be given a chance to work out the situation.

Westmoreland

and fellow bill sponsor Rep. Earl Ehrhart argued that mismanagement uncovered

in an internal audit show the airport needs a less political environment

to operate properly.

Ehrhart said

external audits are needed to insure the public's trust in the airport

operations.

Earlier in

the hearing, Ehrhart pointed out that the City of Atlanta used lawyers

for the airport for city business, according to a finding in the internal

audit. Also, the city used airport funds to purchase a backhoe and other

heavy equipment in addition to misappropriating an additional $700,000

in airport funds.

Ehrhart said

the immediate need for having a new management structure for the airport

was to insure its stability since it is a key player in the entire state's

economy. He argued that the City of Atlanta was not being shut out from

the process as his bill, HB 1012, would allow new Atlanta Mayor Shirley

Franklin to serve on the "Major Airport Operations Board."

The bill calls

for the authority to consist of the Atlanta mayor, the chairmen of the

Fulton and Clayton county commissions (or their designees), and several

members appointed by the state Department of Transportation.

The DOT already

has an aviation division that is experienced with dealing with airport-related

duties, Ehrhart said.

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