WG&L held a board meeting Thursday morning to discuss the cleanup funding.
/ Sean Streicher
ALBANY, GA -- Thursday's Water Gas and Light meeting started out as most do, with the approval of the financial report.
A Report that showed July brought in $300,000 more then expected.
Things got interesting when the discussion switched to the Manufacturing Gas Plant cleanup.
Over the next few months, the site will be tested and monitored, with a major investigative dig scheduled around Christmas.
Tons of dirt will be removed with at least one hole being 9ft deep and 50ft x 50ft wide.
The hole will be dug where Water Gas and Light and the Environmental Protection Division of Georgia feel has the most intense waste.
This dig will cost approximately $750,000; the remaining clean-up should come in smaller increments over longer time periods.
The question remains where this funding will come from.
Earlier in August, the city's Long-term Financial Planning Committee recommended the city commission deny Water, Gas, and Light's request for $750,000 to pay for the investigative dig.
WG&L will re-present its case to the city commission next week, in hopes of getting the request approved.
If the request is denied, and the cost of the investigative dig and total clean up rest solely on WG&L, the cost will be passed on to customers.
WG&L Director of fiscal affairs John Vansant says that customers would only see a small increase, "it’s less than one percent. It's probably 8 tenths of one percent, so if you are use to paying $100 dollars, you get a hundred dollar bill you'll have to pay $100.80."
The total cost of the clean up won’t be known until the testing is complete.
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