Georgians speak out on Alabama incinerator
(The following is excerpted from the July 1998 issue of "Common Sense," the newsletter of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, published by the Kentucky Environmental Foundation.)
The Coosa River Basin Initiative (C.R.B.I.) is a non-profit, grassroots organization based in Rome, Georgia concerned with water quality in the Coosa River Basin. Networking from Bradley County, Tennessee, through Northwest Georgia down to Montgomery, Alabama, the C.R.B.I. works to inform and empower citizens so they may become involved in the process of creating a cleaner, healthier, economically viable watershed. Naturally, the chemical weapons incinerator undergoing construction in Anniston, Alabama is of great concern to the group's members, most of whom live downwind from Anniston. C.R.B.I. believes that what goes up must come down, and we are very concerned that the pollutants associated with the Anniston incinerator will affect our health and environment. To think that emissions from an incinerator will stop at the Georgia state line is ludicrous. We want to make sure Georgians are well informed and have adequate opportunity to voice their concerns. It's the way America is supposed to work.
C.R.B.I. volunteers have formed a sub-committee to concentrate on educating Georgians downwind from Anniston's proposed incinerator. Meeting once every two weeks, the committee is concentrating on strategies to get the word out to Georgians via direct mail, e-mail, and newspaper editorials. In a letter to Georgia Congressmen, C.R.B.I. member John Huber wrote, "We are writing as Georgia voters to express our deep concern about the chemical weapons incineration project in Anniston, Alabama. We feel that because Anniston is so close to the Georgia border, and because the prevailing weather patterns tend to move air eastward from Anniston directly over Georgia, that any such incinerator is as much a Georgia issue as it is an issue for Anniston and Alabama....We intend to spread this information to Georgians during this election year. We do this in hopes of raising awareness and developing a voice for Georgia in this crucial issue. We need your leadership in Congress to ensure that Alabama is not allowed to make a unilateral decision that will negatively impact the lives of so many Georgians."
Our natural resources do not pay attention to political or jurisdictional boundaries, neither do the efforts of the citizens trying to protect them. C.R.B.I. will soon be filing an appeal to the Alabama Circuit Court in an attempt to halt the Anniston incineration project. It is our hope that the safer, non-incineration technologies currently being tested will replace the incineration technology. For more information on what Georgians can do to stop the Anniston chemical weapons incinerator, contact the Coosa River Basin Initiative at (706) 235-0131, or by email at crbi@roman.net.
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