Washington County NAACP Chapter Against Coal-Fired Power Plant
SANDERSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Nearly two dozen Washington County residents came out Thursday to get more information about a proposed coal-fired power plant.
The Washington County chapter of the NAACP has taken a stand against “Plant Washington” opening up in the area. They say the negatives of the plant outweigh the positives.
Even though the plant would create between 200-300 jobs, the NAACP says those jobs would only provide a temporary economic boost.
The group is also worried about harmful toxins the plant could produce like carbon dioxide and mercury.
“The jobs require a lot of specialization–technical experience– that an average person would not have,” says environmental justice attorney MaKara Rumley, who works for GreenLaw. “The permanent jobs–there would probably be about 130 permanent jobs–even the people who are able to obtain those jobs don’t usually stay on coal-fired power plants very long because of the effect to their health.”
The president of the Washington County NAACP, Benjamin Dotson, says lives are more important than jobs.
“I don’t have anything against jobs,” he says. “Everyone needs jobs, but we need to look and see if having a few jobs come in is worth individuals’ health.”
If you weren’t able to make it to Thursday’s forum, the NAACP has put together a website that explains the dangers of coal-fired power plants.
You can reach that site here.
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