TCN for Wednesday
PROGRESS REPORTED IN WILDFIRES
COAL FIRED POWER PLANT APPROVED
PROGRESS REPORTED IN WILDFIRES
Firefighters reported progress Tuesday night, May 15, in battling the Bugaboo fire on the Georgia-Florida border even as flames crept to within a mile of some homes. Bill Beebe, a spokesman for the Florida Bubagoo fire team, said, "All the fire lines, containment lines, we had in held today so far." By Tuesday night, the fire had burned nearly a quarter of a million acres in the two states, or about 390 square miles. It was 50% contained in Florida and 15% contained in Georgia. No new evacuations were reported but about 1,000 people in the Deep Creek area in Columbia County remained out of their homes under a mandatory evacuation order that was issued Monday afternoon. No homes have been burned. Voluntary evacuations remained in place for Moniac and Reeves Landing in Georgia. The evacuation order came after the fire jumped containment lines east of US 441, about five miles north of Deep Creek. Firefighters hoped to gain more ground on Wednesday, with a forecast that called for winds to decrease to between 4 and 8 MPH.
--Interstates 75 and 10 were open in Georgia and Florida but officials continued to caution that frequent closures were possible depending on visibility. Smoke from the fire drifted all the way into Alabama on Tuesday. Other roads in Georgia and Florida, including portions of U.S. 441, remained closed.
--The Sweat Farm/Big Turnout blaze that has been burning since April 16 in Ware and Charlton counties in Georgia had consumed 136,306 acres. That fire was started when a tree fell on a power line. The Sweat Road fire was 80% contained; the Big Turnout fire was 45% contained. Georgia officials said there were 38 active fires burning in the state covering 288,279 acres. In Florida, officials said 227 wildfires were burning in 52 of the state's 67 counties, consuming some 173,646 acres.
COAL FIRED POWER PLANT APPROVED
The state Environmental Protection Division has approved plans for a new coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia's Early County. The Longleaf Plant has been supported by local officials for years, even though it is opposed by state environmental groups. It will be on the Chattahoochee River, about 50 miles north of the Florida line. In addition to a two billion dollar construction project, it is to bring more than 100 high-paying jobs and millions in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. The EPD issued all the necessary permits for the proposed plant on Monday. The plant was proposed by LS Power Associates, a private energy company based in New Jersey, in 2001. At a proposed capacity of 1,200 megawatts, the plant would power more than 500,000 homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. In March, LS Power combined with Dynegy, a publicly traded energy company based in Houston.
--Justine Thompson, executive director of the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest, said the plant will create pollution and contribute to global warming, while exporting power to other states. The center is likely to appeal the permits within the 30-day time limit, delaying the start of the 5-year construction project until at least November.