Ft. Valley To Get Stimulus $$ for Superfund Site

The Superfund program was established during the Carter administration. It requires chemical and manufacturing companies to pay for cleaning up thousands of contaminated sites around the country. Sixteen such sites are in Georgia. They're part of the EPA's National Priority List or NPL.

The $5 million dollars heading toward Fort Valley is part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Fort Valley officials say the Woolfolk site will become the nexus of its redevelopment efforts in an area which includes downtown Fort Valley as well as Fort Valley State University.

Woolfolk sits close to downtown Fort Valley and to the state university which bears the city's name. Since the site was deemed eligible for Superfund in 1990, 27 million dollars has been spent to partially cleanup its 31-acres. Fort Valley mayor Dr. John Stumbo knows the site's history.

"The Woolfolk Chemical Plant started operations there in about 1924. They made agricultural pesticides that were arsenic lace. In those days, of course, there was no air conditioning and because of the heat, most of the mixing of this dry material was done in sheds that simply had a roof and no side walls. So, as the winds blew through there, it would carry this contamined dust all over the area. The second company came in there in the 1970s, they were called Canada in Georgia, and they were doing the same thing."

Recently, Fort Valley's City Council voted to designate Woolfolk part of its redevelopment plan. But, commercial developers have shied away from the area since in some places contaminated soil remains below the surface. So, instead the City Council is considering a recreation center and Fort Valley's mayor says he'd like a new police academy. And, there is also this idea from Fort Valley State University.

"They're trying to develop plants that indeed clean on their own by their growing process, contaminants out of soils. Well, this would be an ideal situation, because there is still some contamination in the soil."

In the early 1980s, citizen complaints prompted the Georgia environmental officials to investigate Woolfolk amid allegations of discharge of waste products into a drainage corridor heading away from the site. No injuries have been reported but one lawsuit forced a former Woolfolk owner to reimburse residents for declining property values.

Today, according to the US EPA, all excavation of arsenic from residential soil is complete, as well as the removal of arsennic contaminated dust from residential attics.

Finally, in 2002, then President Bush elmininated the Superfund tax for chemical companies, which generated approximately $1 billion dollars a year. The Obama administration has reinstated the program starting in 2011, which is expected to add about $17 billion dollars over ten years to the program.

Fort Valley hopes this latest infusion of $5 million dollars from President Obama's stimulus plan will complete the cleanup of Woolfolk, fulfilling its promise of downtown revitalization.

Georgia Could Get Extra Stimulus Money

South Carolina may refuse a portion of its economic stimulus dollars, and that could mean an extra $20 million for Georgia.

The money would likely go to schools and law enforcement here.

The report comes as South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford, continues to say he'll refuse $700 million of that state's stimulus allocation. Sanford wants to use that money on debt. Federal law specifically allocates the money for education and public safety.

If Sanford refuses the money,then it will likely be divvied up between the other states, say analysts with the South Carolina senate finance committee, led by Senator Hugh Leatherman, a fellow Republican who has very openly opposed Sanford's stance. The committee's report projects how much each state will receive, based on a formula in the stimulus legislation.

Sanford has said it’s not stimulative to spend federal dollars on bureaucracies that don’t work, although he plans to accept most of the $8 billion allocated to his state.

Sanford has faced enormous public pressure to keep the money for South Carolina. His opponents say losing the money would mean laying off thousands of teachers and school staff.

Spokesmen for both Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Department of Education, meanwhile, declined to comment on the issue.

U.S. Energy Secretary Confirms $1.6 Billion Coming to Savannah River Site

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the $1.6 billion will help speed up the de-commissioning of nuclear reactors and contaminated areas at the Savannah River Site near Augusta.

The money could provide up to 3000 new jobs in the area, although it's unclear how many of those jobs would be permanent. The funding is part of the new economic stimulus package that targets the environmental clean-up of nuclear sites in the U.S.

The Savannah River Site for years refined nuclear materials for weapons. But employment numbers there dropped by thousands after the Cold War ended.

Federal officials say the funding will pay for the clean-up of about 40 percent of the site's massive industrial area, and ship out about 4500 cubic meters of waste.

About $6 billion is going out to nuclear sites in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Savannah River Site is getting the second-highest funding. The Hanford Site, in Washington state, is getting most at about $2 billion.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy

Perdue: FY 09 Budget Focuses on 'Core Services'

Governor Sonny Perdue's signing of an $18.9 billion budget that includes property tax break funding already promised to Georgia homeowners, slashes about two billion dollars in state spending to close a huge budget hole.

"This is a budget that focuses on the core services of government," Governor Perdue said in a statement released from the Governor's Office Friday.

"We have made effective use of federal stimulus dollars and the state’s rainy day fund, which we worked so hard to build up, to lessen the impact of this economic downturn and plan for next year’s budget. Through sound management by our agency leaders and wise decisions by lawmakers, Georgia will endure a challenging economy and emerge ready to prosper."

The budget contains $625 million in federal stimulus dollars for Medicaid and education. That federal cash helped the state fund some $428 million in homeowner tax relief grants, which translates into about $200 to $300 per household. That money was already included in property tax bills. But the relief could disappear next year because a new law will link future grants to the state's economy.

The budget covers the fiscal year that ends June 30th.

Click here for more details on the budget: www.legis.ga.gov

(AP)

Columbus-Based Movie Chain Launching 'Stimulus Tuesdays'

How about some recession popcorn and soda while you're at your local movie theater?

The box office has remained strong despite the economic downturn, but theater chain Carmike Cinemas said last week that it will try out its own version of an economic stimulus plan for consumers on a traditionally slow moviegoing night.

The Columbus, Ga.-based company is launching "Stimulus Tuesdays" this coming week at its 250 locations, which contain 2,300 screens. Under the promotion, it will offer all 16-ounce drinks and 46-ounce popcorn for $1 each.

Popcorn and drink prices have not been this low since the 1970s, according to Carmike.

"While lawmakers in Washington, D.C., continue to debate how to get the American economy back on track, and the rest of us wait for some positive impact on the economy and our pocketbooks, Carmike has an immediate solution that is sure to please our valued patrons and make the movie-going experience more affordable and enjoyable," Carmike director of marketing Dale Hurst said.

There was no word about discounted ticket prices.

Website Tracks State Stimulus Funds

There's a new website to track how Georgia is spending federal stimulus funds for transportation. Georgia will receive $932 million for job stimulation related to transportation projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). www.dot.ga.gov/gastimulus is run by the Department of Transportation. The federal funding has very specific project requirements, and also requires that states provide ready access to information on project selection, funding deadlines and progress toward construction.

Savannah River Site Could Get Up to 3000 New Jobs

The economic stimulus could bring employment to the nuclear industry.

The stimulus would provide nearly $2 billion and up to 3000 jobs to the Savannah River Site, which is near Augusta.

"These are shovel ready jobs that have been identified and hopefully will make a big difference not only for environmental management in the area, but also create new jobs for the area," says Seth Kirshenberg, director of the Energy Communities Alliance, a national organization of counties and cities where sites operated by the U.S. Department of Energy are located.

However, there's been no official announcement yet.

The DOE will get about $6 billion in federal funds for environmental clean up at its sites.

The Savannah River Site refined nuclear materials for weapons during the Cold War. But employment numbers there dropped afterward, ever since the site's mission changed to cleanup efforts.

Powered by Podbean.com