A piece of land that was once the Lake Lanier Golf Club is being developed, but the people living nearby say the construction is problematic. Even the county commissioner for that area has gotten involved.
“There were recommendations made by the Georgia Mountain Regional Commission that stated that the soils would need to be tested anytime the golf course was to be redeveloped,” District 5 commissioner Laura Semanson said. “Unfortunately, that testing has not taken place.”
“All this mud is in the ponds now, and it flows directly into lake Lanier which is our drinking water source,” nearby resident Jack Schoer said.
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“There are some environmental concerns with respect to certain chemicals that were traditionally used within the golf course industry for decades. Some of those chemicals included numerous toxins including heavy metals such as arsenic,” Semanson said.
“Prior to the development, steps the county should have taken to ensure they were water and soil testing, mitigation measures for this project, did not happen,” nearby resident Julie Allen said. “When the development of regional impact was completed much earlier back in 2006 and 2007, it was completed incorrectly.”
“There are hundreds of people directly affected by this, and we think there might be thousands affected by the environmental impact, the impact of our water source,” Schoer said
“We’re at a situation right now where this absolutely needs to be addressed as soon as possible, because the damage would be tremendously difficult to unwind if we do find the presence of those chemicals and it's not being controlled,” Semanson said.
“Nothing moves very quickly. When you're talking about our most precious resource in North Georgia, you know water is a very precious commodity, I think we need answers before we keep going. This is something of critical importance that needs to be addressed, and the buck keeps getting passed,” Allen said.