Georgia Likely to Owe Interest to Taxpayers

Slumping tax collections and budget cuts make Alabama and Georgia likely to join California in owing interest to some taxpayers for issuing their income tax refunds late.

Both states have laws requiring them to pay interest to taxpayers who filed by the April 15 deadline but don't get their refunds within 90 days. That deadline is Wednesday.

Tax officials in both states say it appears that interest will have to be paid because thousands of tax refunds are still awaiting payment.

California officials are planning to issue IOUs this month for nearly $200 million in tax refunds. California expects to pay the IOUs in October.

Kansas had also been late in paying refunds, but it borrowed money last week to catch up.

(Associated Press)

Insurance Commissioner Returns Money

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has returned $120,000 that was funneled into his gubernatorial campaign by two insurance firms.

The Republican detailed the returns in a campaign filing submitted late Tuesday night. The move comes after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the two Georgia insurance companies sent the money into Oxendine's campaign through 10 Alabama-based political action committees. Georgia law forbids public officials from taking money from the companies they regulate.

Oxendine has said in a statement that he had requested an advisory opinion from the state ethics officials days before the newspaper's story ran in May. He had called the story a "hit piece."

Water Dispute Goes to Court

Lawyers in Alabama, Florida and Georgia argued in federal court Monday about how the water in Lake Lanier should be used, and whether it could be used to supply metro
Atlanta's thirst.

State lawyers for Georgia say the water at man made Lake Lanier can be used to supply metro Atlanta, while attorneys for Florida and Alabama say the law clearly
states the federally operated dam can only serve three functions: flood control, maintaining flow levels and generating power.

Arguments lasted about four hours at the Jacksonville, Florida court house. The judge hearing the case says the ruling will "take time."

Last year, the three states held secret meetings to try and resolve the issue before this court date, those meetings fell apart, and now Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson is calling on the states to get back to the negotiating table.

"It's time for the governor's of the three states, and the leadership in Congress, to sit at the table and honestly do what's right for Georgia, for Alabama, and for Florida. No state should trump the other."

Decatur PFOA Find Could Lead to Regulations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are investigating how record amounts of PFOA and other Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) turned up in Decatur, Alabama sludge.

The investigation could eventually lead to regulated PFOA standards in sewage treatment, officials say, although much more data and studies would need to be completed before making such a determination. Already, the high levels in Decatur prompted an EPA drinking water advisory for PFOA and PFOS.

The question investigators have is whether Decatur is a unique case.

PFOA is classified by the EPA as a “likely carcinogen,” and numerous studies have linked it to various cancers. It is often described as a byproduct of making stain resistant carpet, and an ingredient in manufacturing non-stick surfaces such as Teflon.

Any new standards could impact a wastewater treatment plant in Whitfield County operated by Dalton Utilities that releases PFOA and other PFCs that eventually end up in the Conasauga River, a source of drinking water for several Northwest Georgia Communities.

Some samples gathered by the EPA in the Conasauga's surface water have shown 12.5 times the advisable amount for drinking water.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division tested the Conasaugua for PFOA and PFCs, but are still evaluating the results from that summer survey.

Dalton Utilities says they need more guidance from permitting authorities, and will not change operations until then.

In an effort to find the sources of PFOA in Decatur, EPA officials have requested information from fourteen companies with Alabama operations, including 3M, Japanese based chemical manufacturer Daikin, and Toray Flurofibers. According to EPA officials, all three chemical companies have been cooperative and are not suspected of any wrongdoing or law violations.

The EPA is also looking into privately held Alabama waste company, Biological Processors of Alabama, Inc, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to several EPA workers, the Decatur case has prompted renewed interest in studying PFOA and other related compounds as a matter of public health. As recently as last year, the EPA was criticized by some chemical makers for devoting resources towards studying PFOA, which is scheduled to be phased out by 2015.

EPA Advisory Came After Record PFOA Find

GPB has confirmed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found what is believed to be the highest concentrations of PFOA in soil ever collected in the United States at a non-spill site near Decatur, Alabama.

While the specific amount of the likely carcinogenic compound has not been publicly disclosed, Gail Mitchell of the EPA confirmed the PFOA was found very near the parts per million range at a site that processes sludge from waste water.

"The levels we found did generate a significant amount of concern for us," Mitchell said.

Mitchell cautions that limited samples were collected, suggesting the results could be outliers.

Numerous studies have linked PFOA exposure to multiple cancers. The EPA has not definitively ruled on how much PFOA exposure might put humans at a health risk, prompting the "likely carcinogen" classification.

PFOA is a chemical often described as a by product of making stain resistant carpet. It's also found in non-stick coating, such as Teflon.

The samples were collected in the fall of 2007 and processed in October of last year. After the results came back, EPA officials moved quickly to establish an advisory placing drinking water standards of .4 parts per billion for PFOA due to concern the contamination leaked into the local water table.

Subsequent testing by the EPA has shown the local water supply was not contaminated with amounts of PFOA higher than the advisory.

The EPA has also contacted the United States Department of Agriculture about possible contamination of cattle that graze on grass fertilized with the sludge.

The USDA and the Food and Drug Administration are currently testing livestock for the presence of the chemical.

The EPA is also investigating several industries as possible sources of the PFOA.

Researchers are now studying how PFOA is transferred in sludge applications around the country after the findings in Decatur, said Mitchell.

"The chemicals are widely used in industry, so it's not surprising there would be some concentrations showing up in municipal sewage sludge in most places. The question is are those concentrations at a level that would pose a risk to public health."

PFOA has been found in high concentrations in Georgia's Conasauga River, a source of drinking water for several North Georgia communities, at higher concentrations than allowable in other states, including New Jersey and Minnesota. The chemical gets in that river via a sewage land application system in Dalton, home to much of the US carpet industry.

For GPB's coverage of PFOA in the Conasauga, log onto:
http://www.gpb.org/georgiagazette/conasauga

Atlanta mayor hopes for truce in 3-state water war

West Point Lake. (Dave Bender/file)

Mayor Shirley Franklin is hopeful President-elect Barack Obama will make good on a promise to unite Georgia, Florida and Alabama over the issue of water.

In October, Obama said he would call for the states' governors to begin negotiating again on water sharing.

Speaking to the Atlanta Press Club Tuesday, Franklin said she considers overhauling the city's troubled sewer system one of hermost challenging accomplishments, but that the new president must bring regional governors to the table on water issues.

Franklin, who leaves office at the end of the year, says her successor will need to focus on what can be done to ensure a stronger future for Atlanta.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of water issues and here for previous reports about the drought.

High Court Declines Georgia Motion Water Wars Case

Lake Allatoona: a bridge over troubled, and receding, waters (Dave Bender/file)

The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a lower court ruling that threatens Georgia's long-term water plans for the Atlanta region.

The court's decision Monday raises fundamental questions about Georgia's rights to Lake Lanier, a massive federal reservoir outside Atlanta. It could also play a key role in deciding the
long-running water wars among Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The case involves a 2003 water-sharing agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers that would have allowed Georgia to take far more water from Lanier for drinking water.

Florida and Alabama contested the pact. A lower court agreed, saying the Corps didn't have authority to use the lake for that reason.

Georgia had appealed to the Supreme Court for another review.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of water issues and here for previous reports about the drought.

Governors up ante in SEC showdown

The SEC football showdown between Florida and Alabama is coming to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta tomorrow. And the governors of Florida and Alabama have upped the ante on the outcome. The Sunshine State's Gov. Charlie Crist has agreed that if the Gators lose to the Crimson Tide on Saturday, he'll send Alabama Gov. Bob Riley a box of Florida oranges. If the Gators prevail, Riley will ship over a rack of ribs from the famous Dreamland Barbeque in Tuscaloosa. The game is being billed as a showdown between a team known for its power and one famous for its speed.

(Associated Press)

Fort Benning, Columbus ready for Gustav's brunt

Fort Benning is mobilizing to support evacuation and medical efforts for storm-hit areas.

The Department of Defense has placed the infantry training base, along with five others in the southeas Federal Emergency Management Agency logistics staging areas for supplies and equipment.

Nearby, the Columbus branch of the American Red Cross says they have opened an emergency center for evacuees fleeing areas expecting to be hit by Hurricane Gustav sometime Monday.

The center is located at the Calvary Christian School on 7556 Old Moon Road.

Across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama, Russell County is also preparing, and has designated Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City as an emergency evacuation center.

Click here for more GPB News coverage on Hurricane Gustav.

Georgia seeks ruling reversal

Georgia has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an unfavorable ruling in its water war with neighboring states. The February ruling that said the state needs congressional approval to use more water from Lake Lanier to supply the Atlanta area. The massive federal reservoir is at the heart of a nearly two-decade water feud among Georgia, Florida and Alabama. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out a deal between Georgia and the federal government that gives Georgia more water rights over Lanier than other states.

Georgia set back in water dispute

A setback for Georgia in its decades-long feud over water with neighboring states. A federal judge overseeing the water battle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida says top on his agenda – whether Georgia has any rights to continue using Lake Lanier as Atlanta's main water source. Lake Lanier is in north Georgia but is a federal reservoir. Judge Paul A. Magnuson says that decision could render the other legal questions in the case obsolete.

Feds: Water Talks Have Failed

Lake Lanier: very dry dock (Susanna Capelouto/file)

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne acknowledged Saturday that White House-brokered water negotiations among Alabama, Florida and Georgia have failed.

Without an agreement, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies will begin implementing a water-sharing plan of their own, Kempthorne said in a letter to the governors.

"Regrettably, it will necessarily be a solution being directed to the states instead of our much hoped for solution coming from the states," he wrote in the letter, released Saturday.

Kempthorne said the talks, which began last fall, yielded more progress in three months than at any time during the last 18 years.


West Point Lake: dock, no boats. (Dave Bender/file)

But he said the negotiators could not reach a comprehensive agreement and called it "unfortunate" that the states are moving forward with ongoing litigation.

"It is our hope that developments in the courts will not frustrate further progress in resolving the remaining technical issues we face together," he said.

The three states have been feuding for nearly two decades over water rights in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basins, which run south through Georgia into Alabama and the Florida panhandle.


Chattahoochee River at Columbus: shoals and tires. (Dave Bender/file)

Georgia is fighting to hold back more water in federal reservoirs around Atlanta to serve its growing population.

Florida and Alabama argue that Georgia hasn't adequately planned for growth. The extra withdrawals, they argue, would damage the environment and dry up river flows into their states that support smaller municipalities, power plants, commercial fisheries and industrial users like paper mills.

With a record drought creating a critical water shortage last fall, President Bush dispatched Kempthorne to try to settle the dispute.

But the talks appeared doomed from the start, with Florida almost immediately backing away from an initial agreement to allow Georgia to temporarily hold back more water in Lake Lanier outside Atlanta as the governors worked toward a longer-term pact by Feb. 15.

Then Georgia lost a major court ruling in a case that raised questions about whether the federal government can allocate the state more water from the river basins without first getting approval from Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court.

After a series of meetings, the governors missed the Feb. 15 deadline but said they would continue talking until March 1.

The talks appeared to unravel further in recent days, with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue saying the water problems facing Florida and Alabama are not as critical as Georgia's and accusing the other states of approaching the talks without the same urgency as Georgia.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley responded by saying that prospects for a negotiated solution were "indeed dim" if Perdue could not acknowledge that Georgia's needs are no more critical than those of the other states.


Lake Allatoona: bridge over troubled waters (Dave Bender/file)

Against that backdrop, Georgia officials said Saturday they will not make a severe drought declaration for the lower Flint River Basin in the southwest part of the state.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News drought coverage.

Perdue not sunny on water talks

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said today he is "less than optimistic" about the success of talks on how to share water with Florida and Alabama. The three states have been fighting over water rights in the region for two decades. Perdue also said he does not believe Alabama and Florida share Georgia's urgency to make a deal. He asserted that Georgia's drinking water shortage is more critical than the water problems faced by its neighbors.

Georgia will miss water deadline

Georgia, Alabama and Florida won't meet a deadline for settling their 20-year fight over sharing water. The Bush Administration set tomorrow's deadline for the three states to announce a long-term pact. But instead of announcing a long-term pact on Friday as planned, the states' three Governors will offer more of a status report.

Georgia loses on water ruling

Today Georgia suffered a defeat in its nearly 20-year water war with Florida and Alabama. Today a federal appeals court threw out an agreement between Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers for water rights to Lake Lanier. The 2003 agreement gave Georgia about a quarter of Lake Lanier's water and is the foundation of the state's long-term plans for supplying drinking water to the rapidly growing Atlanta region. Alabama and Florida argued that Georgia doesn't have any legal right to the federal reservoir, which was initially built for hydropower.

Benning BRAC Planning Group Meets

(Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

A coalition of ten Chattahoochee Valley counties met today to hammer out details of a massive program to bring tens of thousands of soldiers and their families to Fort Benning and Columbus.

The army's Base Realignment and Closure program – BRAC for short – will transfer some 40,000 troops from Ft. Knox, Kentucky by 2011.

A consortium known as The Valley Partnership is planning the infrastructure for the influx that will affect ten counties in Georgia, and three across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.

Officials began working on a Regional Growth Management Plan just after the New Year. They're examining a 35-mile radius around the army training base to coordinate and assess the projected effects of the move on the area over the next 20-years. They include new highways, housing, schools, utilities, and a score of other issues.

Columbus Chamber of Commerce President Mike Gaymon, speaking to the Chattahoochee Valley group, Jan., 23, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Mike Gaymon, president of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce:

“Highways, for example; buildings, for example. Where are these houses going to go, where do these subdivision need to go? Is the water and sewer there? And we know that there are a lot of areas, where there's no water and sewer... so, it's big. It touches every fabric and part of these counties we'll be working with.”

Local officials say the Department of Defense move – the biggest such peacetime personnel and materiel transfer in army history – will bring an estimated two billion dollars in capital investment to the area. In addition, the DoD is assisting the funding of the effort.

Ron Roth, vice president of Science Applications International Corporation, is in charge of the project's planning and integration:

“The Department of Defense – The Office of Economic Adjustment provides funding for communities that are affected by BRAC decisions. Columbus and the surrounding area has revieved the largest grant ever: 3.3 million dollars - so that's a pretty big deal.”

J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services consultants, is crunching the research numbers:

“We are going to be specifically looking at the housing needs that this is going to bring to the region; we're going to be helping out on the educational needs, in terms of K-to-12, and higher education and what that's going to mean. The whole team is really working on about 16 different tasks.”

The project will affect Chattahoochee, Harris, Muscogee, Marion, Stewart, Talbot and Taylor counties in Georgia, and Barbour, Lee and Russel in Alabama.

“It has the largest regional impact I've ever seen. So I think it's that need for really looking at it in total, that's an important part of the project,” according to Holladay.

Projected BRAC growth timeline. Click on graph for full-size image. (Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the BRAC project.

Former Ala. governor wants out of prison

Attorneys for former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman are trying to get a federal appeals court in Atlanta to release him from prison. Siegelman was sentenced in June 2006 to more than seven years in prison for bribery and obstruction of justice. His attorneys say he is entitled to bond pending resolution of his appeal. Siegelman was convicted along with former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy.

Water war hits U.S. Senate

Boat docks nearly high and dry at Lake Lanier. (Susanna Capelouto)

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama added language to an omnibus spending bill that prevents the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing new water control plans for the Chattahoochee River basin. Shelby is a senior member of the powerful appropriations committee.

The move angered both Georgia Senators, Johnny Isacson and Saxby Chambliss. They said the language shouldn't have been allowed without consultation of senators from affected states. The language they say injects Congress into an issue that should remain in the hands of the
Governors of the three affected states.

In October the U.S. Army Corp of engineers said it would start updating it's water contol manuals used to regulate flow in the Chattahoochee and Coosa, Tallapoosa river basins.

The current manuals are almost 20 years old and do not reflect the population growth in Georgia. The language in the spending bill specifically prohibits the Corps from using funds to implement any new water control manuals for the two river basins.

Senator Isaacson says he has the votes to change the language before the appropriaions for the corp of engineers go into effect.

Earlier this week, the Governors of Georgia Alabama and Florida agreed to come up with a drought plan and continue their talks over how to resolve the 17-year-old water dispute.

Tallahassee Talks in Water Wars (Video)

The governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida are meeting in Tallahassee to figure out how to break the decade-long water-usage impasse between the three states, during a record-breaking drought.

Click to watch the report.


Click here for more GPB News coverage of the water crisis.

Tri-state water meeting postponed

Governor Sonny Perdue’s meeting the governors of Alabama and Florida to hash out a water agreement has been pushed back a week. The meeting was scheduled for Monday in Tallahassee. It was postponed to Dec. 17 due to scheduling conflicts. The three states have been fighting over southeastern water resources for nearly two decades. This month's meeting is expected to be a key step in hashing out a permanent pact.