Editor,

I read your editorial on the Ogeechee River. You said it was easy to get mad about what has been done to our river. Let me say this: I own property on the banks of our poor, sad river. Large logs line the banks. You used to be able to sit at the waters’ edge, holding a piece of meat in the water and big bream would come up and take it out of your hand. No more! Those fish were turned into a cloud of rotting flesh drifting with the current. So, yes, I am mad. Still think it’s easy to be mad now?

You say, “Don’t blame the EPD. They don’t have the man power or resources.” The stubborn facts of this sorry tale are, King America was illegally dumping formaldehyde, ammonia and a host of other poisons into the river with no permit! How does the EPD fix this problem? The draft permit, drawn up by the EPD, simply makes all of that legal. Behold — problem solved!

Now, I say the EPD is the problem.

“Not enough boots on the ground,” you say? EPD inspectors looked at the plant several times and simply didn’t see an entire process line using all of these poisons. So, you see, it’s not a problem of boots on the ground. You must have people in those boots who are able and willing to see the problem.

Gov. Nathan Deal just handpicked a new EPD director who publicly stated he likes the failed policies of the previous director — policies that have at least 12 rivers in our state near death. So, by all means, everybody needs to fire off those angry letters to the EPD. Write, email and call the governor’s office and let him know that if he does not clean house at the EPD, he will be a one-term governor.

If we act now, we will have rivers we can safely swim, fish and boat in. If we say nothing, our rivers will die, and we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

— Wayne Carney
Ellabell