Biomass plant forum Monday

Published 12:07 am Sunday, December 5, 2010

All citizens of Lowndes County and any other interested parties are encouraged to attend the Biomass Forum Monday night, hosted by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, at 7:30 at the Conference Center.

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The authority has invited a half-dozen individuals to speak, which will last approximately 60 to 90 minutes, followed by “ample’ time for questions to be answered, at least 30 minutes, according to the Authority.

The biomass plant is being built by Sterling Planet, a Georgia company, and will be located off Inner Perimeter Road. The plant will burn wood waste in order to generate electricity which will be sold to a power company. They will purchase wood waste from landowners and water from the City of Valdosta in the process, with approximately 60 trucks of wood delivered daily to the plant.

In addition, the plant will burn the sewage sludge from the nearby wastewater treatment plant as a service to Valdosta, which will save the city around $250,000 per year, even though the sludge itself does not contribute to the electricity generation.

The Times has presented several stories with facts concerning the $140 million project, which will generate 20 to 25 local jobs once the plant is up and running. Considering the number of questions, calls, e-mails, and comments The Times has received concerning the project, it appears that there is tremendous interest on the part of citizens, so this is your chance to attend this meeting and get the answers.

And to the Industrial Authority and invited speakers, you are urged to not insult the intelligence of those attending. They understand what the plant will do. What they want to know is how this will affect them in terms of health issues, air quality and safety, burning sewage, the number of trucks on the highway so close to several schools, etc.

The onus is on you, the Authority, to handle this in a much more professional manner than the last Sterling project.