Georgia Power should be forthright with communication

Published 8:00 am Saturday, July 23, 2016

Earlier this week the community learned of an accident at Plant Branch that resulted in an estimated 200 gallons of oil spilling into Lake Sinclair. Georgia Power officials are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the spill, and a precise timeline as to when it occurred has not yet been provided. Company officials said the incident happened sometime late Sunday or early Monday, and state and federal authorities were notified, however, many residents were unaware of the incident and subsequent cleanup until later in the day on Monday when The Union-Recorder confirmed with Georgia Power and reported on it. Company officials also went door-to-door on Monday to update residents at the lake.

Georgia Power has a history locally of being a strong community partner with Milledgeville and Baldwin County, so it seems only fair to give the company the benefit of the doubt with this recent incident, but with the dismantling of Plant Branch still underway and recent concerns regarding plans for coal ash elimination at the lake emphasize the need for continued communication between Georgia Power and the community and the need for information to be relayed in a forthright manner.

Georgia Power has for years been a sound environmental steward for the local community through its lake cleanup efforts and educational programs, not to mention a significant contributor to the local economy. We’ve all seen and read about environmental disasters in other parts of the country, however, that have left communities devastated and with major impact. There are numerous other examples all around us that demonstrate firsthand what happens when we divert our attention and there is a failure to stay in front of these types of circumstances. The results are all too often catastrophically damaging.

With Plant Branch no longer in operation it presents a number of valid concerns for local residents, as this is new territory for the local community.

Adequate follow-up with information on the cause of this recent accident is needed as well as details on the preventative measures that will be taken to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

The dismantling of the plant brings forth a number of questions and unknowns as this is a new set of circumstances for the local community, emphasizing the need for Georgia Power to remain straightforward with the community in an effort to ease concerns.