As the owners of the Cauley Creek sewer treatment plant fight to keep Fulton County’s business, they have found a valuable ally in County Commissioner Liz Hausmann.
While the county tried to convince state officials their plan to close Cauley Creek made sense, Hausmann expressed concerns about the proposal to some of the same state agencies, records reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show. She worked with the plant’s owners and customers to oppose the move almost from the start.
Records show Hausmann allowed Cauley Creek Chief Operating Office Tim Equels to write a letter to the state Environmental Protection Division under her name in 2012. The letter asked EPD to examine the environmental impact of closing the plant and lauded Cauley Creek’s performance.
Hausmann said she consulted Equels because she’s not an environmental expert and wanted to make sure her letter was accurate.
She later wrote to Gov. Nathan Deal, suggesting that closing the plant could have implications for Georgia’s negotiations with Alabama and Florida over use of water from the Chattahoochee River. She asked Deal to review the issue and advise whether Fulton County would be in any jeopardy if it closed Cauley Creek.
Hausmann also argued the plant’s case to a regional water district, the county’s development authority and Johns Creek officials.
A month after commissioners voted to end their contract with Cauley Creek, she proposed rescinding the decision. Commissioners rejected her request on a 3-4 vote.
After that, the issue disappeared from the public eye. But, behind the scenes, EPD audited Fulton’s compliance with a regional water plan. It eventually found the county charged Cauley Creek’s former customers too little for drinking water they used for irrigation.
Last June, Hausmann and former County Manager Dwight Ferrell met with EPD staff to discuss the audit and the possibility of reopening Cauley Creek, records show.
In August Cauley Creek CEO Green e-mailed Hausmann a proposal: He’d sell the plant to the county for $15 million or reopen it himself and contract with the county to treat wastewater. He billed it as a way to address the EPD’s concerns.
Some current and former commissioners said they were not aware of Green’s offer until informed by the AJC. Former Commissioner Bill Edwards, who left office in December, questioned Hausmann’s persistence on the issue.
“Why does an elected official go to such lengths on something we’ve already decided what we’re going to do?” Edwards said.
Hausmann’s said she’s working for constituents – in this case Cauley Creek’s former customers, including golf courses that host major tournaments that have a big economic impact. The golf courses say the plant is their best source of irrigation water.
“I feel this is an economic issue for the district I represent. Period. End of story,” Hausmann said.
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