Dear Editor: The residents of Bryan County should be concerned about the behind-closed-door policies reminiscent of the city of Savannah policies. We all should be concerned about a landfill proposal on acreage which contains wetlands, streams and backs up to a major contributor “Black Creek” to the Ogeechee River.
Mr. Ben Wall owns the existing landfill on Dean Forest Road and has been notified by the state of Georgia that it has to close in 2012. It is full. So he has come to our Bryan County commissioners. Mr. Wall’s engineering consulting firm Atlantic Coastal Consulting Inc. has put a presentation together to meet one-on-one with our commissioners. After their meetings, two revisions to the county waste management ordinances came before the board. The first reading was to occur at the February meeting and was voted unanimously by the board; however, someone forgot to notify the public that such changes were occurring. That is illegal. So, after getting caught, the first reading had to be moved to the March 8 meeting. I am concerned the two ordinance changes will make it easier for Mr. Wall to obtain permits from the county when he applies for rezoning.
Does it not seem coincidental, that at this exact time, two ordinance changes regarding “waste management” must occur even though Mr. Wall has applied for absolutely nothing to the county? I am told, “he’s just thinking on it.” Is it not strange Mr. Wall meets in private, one-on-one meetings with our commissioners, with an engineering proposal in hand made by Atlantic Coastal Consulting Inc. and paid for by Mr. Wall? Also, don’t we all wonder why notice to the public is so easily forgotten – just because Mr. Wall is “thinking on it?”
With all of the above said, if this project proceeds, every resident in Bryan County will be impacted. As seepage occurs into the wetlands and tributaries on the site and runs “down hill” through the Ogeechee River, our wells will be contaminated, our rivers’ environments will change and our fishing will be spoiled. There will be an increase in birth defects and many additional diseases to plague Bryan County. Mr. Ben Wall and his associates will never live or vacation in northern Bryan County but will become wealthier men.

Laurie Langston
Black Creek Community