State Rep.

Kathy Cox of Peachtree City wants answers to why Hartsfield Atlanta International

Airport allowed pollution to flow into Fayette's water supply Jan. 3.

And she wants

a regional authority to oversee the airport from now on.

"This

authority would give the public affected by the operation of this airport

some kind of accountability," Cox said in testimony Tuesday before

the state House Aviation Subcommittee, which is studying bills designed

to do just that.

The airport's

spill of at least 30,000 gallons of deicing agent into the Flint River

Jan. 3 is "clearly a case in point of how that airport and its operation

have more than just an economic impact on the surrounding region,"

Cox told The Citizen prior to her testimony.

Officials of

the state Environmental Protection Division are asking the airport administration

to agree to a consent order calling for immediate and long-term solutions

to a "fatal design flaw" in the handling of deicing fluids (see

related story). The fluids are supposed to flow into a sanitary sewer

for treatment before being released into the storm sewers, which flow

into the Flint River, source of drinking water for points south of the

airport, but instead thousands of gallons are going directly into the

Flint, officials said.

Following a

snow storm Jan. 3, Hartsfield officials reported a spill of an estimated

250 gallons, but EPD officials told the Citizen at least 30,000 gallons

reached the Flint without being treated.

The problem

surfaced during January as EPD investigated complaints from Fayette, Clayton

and Spalding County residents about water that smelled sweet "sickeningly

sweet," said Patty Culjak of Peachtree City.

Culjak said

the water smelled like antifreeze and put forth the theory that glycol

used in deicing at Hartsfield may be to blame. After looking into it,

Bert Langley of EPD's Emergency Response Program concurred. "I'm

almost certain that's what caused it," he said, adding that repeated

testing shows the water to be safe for local residents.

"What

they [the airport] did was absolutely, totally irresponsible to the region,"

Cox told The Citizen. "They really didn't think they had to answer

to anybody."

The incident

"raised some questions," said Cox, "not just that the airport

acted irresponsibly, but who is overseeing it, and who should have a say

into how the airport is run."

Republicans

in the state Legislature are pushing for creation of a regional authority

to take some of that oversight out of the city of Atlanta's hands, and

Cox said she'll be pushing for passage of that legislation.

Another issue,

she said, is why Hartsfield didn't immediately notify water systems down

stream when chemicals were spilled into the Flint Jan. 3. "The big

question is why weren't people told," she said in Tuesday's testimony.

"If we

had gotten a phone call, we could have turned the pump off at the river,"

confirmed Tony Parrott, water system director. "Now we'll keep a

closer watch on them," he added.

With freezing

weather and possible precipitation predicted for today, Wednesday, Cox

said local residents have a right to worry. "With the bad weather,

is this going to happen again?" she asked during the subcommittee

hearings.