Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Former Lithonia Mayor Opposes Biomass Plant

"Let's raise the next generation with clean air and a fair chance at a healthy life," Marcia Glenn Hunter writes.

Former Lithonia city mayor Marcia Glenn Hunter wrote this letter regarding the biomass gasification plant proposed for Lithonia. There will be a public hearing on the matter Dec. 18 at the Lou Walker Senior Center.

Dear Editor:

    Businesses within the Lithonia community have been allowed to notoriously pollute the air and have even failed to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) health standards.  In fact, DeKalb County’s arsenic level is about three times the EPA guideline and formaldehyde is a whopping 58 times the EPA guideline.

    Despite this, Green Energy Partners wants to open a biomass plant in the community of my birth that will produce as much particulate matter of a coal plant the same size.  Particulate matter will penetrate our lungs, harming all of us – especially our neighbors with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

 The facility will also require about 7,500 tractor-trailer truckloads of wood chip fuel per year, which equals one per hour.  Imagine the diesel emissions that will affect our community.  DeKalb County already has enough traffic-related pollution, let’s not compound the problem.

    Moreover, the plant will emit tons of hazardous air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and formaldehyde that are known to cause cancer and birth defects. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Georgia and 30% of these deaths are due to lung cancer.  More importantly, 12% of Georgia’s children have asthma.  Let’s raise the next generation with clean air and a fair chance at a healthy life.

    Green Energy Partners wants us to believe that their plant is “green” and will produce clean energy, but this is simply not true.  Join me and other concerned citizens on December 18th for a public hearing at the Lou Walker Senior Center.

                        Sincerely,

                        Marcia Glenn Hunter
                        Former Mayor, City of Lithonia

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