Perdue to move dirt dredged from Lake Jackson boat slip

By AMY LEIGH WOMACK

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and Georgia Power are asking Gov. Sonny Perdue to remove the dirt dredged from Lake Jackson this fall, according to Georgia Power.

The dredging was done without a permit. Perdue owns a vacation home on the lake. A neighbor spotted heavy equipment removing the soil from Perdue’s mud-clogged boat slip Oct. 3 and dumping the dirt farther into the lake. The neighbor reported the activity to Georgia Power.

Georgia Power, which owns the lake, has issued a permit for Perdue to remove the soil in December when the lake’s water level is drawn down, said Konswello Monroe, a Georgia Power spokeswoman.

Once removed, the 5 cubic yards of soil will be moved to higher ground in an area where it can’t erode back into the lake, Monroe said.

While the soil removal may not require the use of heavy equipment, Monroe characterized the amount of soil as “a very, very small amount.”

She likened the amount of dirt to the footprint of a pontoon boat, about 8 feet wide by 17 feet long and about an inch deep.

Perdue’s communications director, Bert Brantley, said the governor has been cooperative throughout the process. The governor stopped dredging as soon as he was informed that a permit was needed. “He’s very willing to do whatever is asked of him,” Brantley said.

Laura Niles, an EPA spokeswoman, said there hasn’t been any formal “enforcement action” against Perdue.

She said the EPA assisted Georgia Power in determining the best way to correct the improper filling of the lake with the soil.

In some cases, the moving of soil can impact an ecosystem, she said.

State and federal environmental regulations generally forbid property owners from dumping silt in a waterway or even allowing erosion off their property. The Ocmulgee River flows out of Lake Jackson and through Macon.

Information from The Telegraph’s archives was included in this report.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.