DeKalb Development Authority OK’s funding for biomass plant

The DeKalb Development Authority has agreed to issue $53 million in bonds for a proposed biomass plant near Lithonia that has drawn fierce opposition from residents.

Green Energy Partners wants to burn wood on a 21-acre site on Rogers Lake Road near Lithonia, converting the wood into energy it will sell to Georgia Power.

A group of residents has sued the county for approving the $60 million plant in July, claiming the OK was invalid because DeKalb had contracted the year before to sell 40,000 tons of its wood chips yearly to the firm, for $200,000 a year. The lawsuit remains in DeKalb Superior Court.