A public hearing on the draft WASTEWATER DISCHARGE permit of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for the Equinix data center near the speedway in Hampton will be held at 7pm, Thursday, 21 May. All comments can be heard, but GAEPD in this situation has authority only over the discharge permit. It is expected that concerned and engaged citizens will also make comment regarding the volume of water on the input side and the various missteps by local officials that brought us to this moment in the first place. The proposed receiving waters for the discharge permit are Clear Creek, a very small first-order branch that feeds Bear Creek, thence to the Flint. There are usually time limits at GAEPD hearings, sometimes as short at three minutes. It is suggested that you craft you verbal comments to accommodate such rules. Longer, written comments can be given to hearing officers. Also, typically, GAEPD hearing officers will describe the permit and NOT take any questions, then opening the floor to comments taken in the order that folks sign up. They also typically will not answer any questions posed by those making public comment. It is usually wise, however, to make comments about whatever you would like for the permit applicant and/or local public officials to hear as it is likely that at least some of those folks will attend. Flint Riverkeeper’s suggested comments on the wastewater discharge are: · It is critical that there be strict discharge limits for anything that is in the water the data center will be purchasing from Giffin because whatever is in that water because it will CONCENTRATED at least eight to ten-fold during the cooling process. · Materials in that water that already are or will become pollutants once they are concentrated will include but are not limited to: · Various salts and other compounds of Magnesium, Manganese, Calcium and other ‘light’ metals · Similar issues with ‘heavier’ metals such as Iron, Lead, and others · PFAS (already known to be in Griffin’s water) · The cooling systems at Equinix themselves will shed and concentrate pollutants during normal cooling and also during regular ‘blowdown’ (cleaning) events. · It is even more critical that limits be set due to the very small size of Clear Creek. There are in fact times (during dry periods) when Clear Creek will be vastly dominated by the flow from the data center, perhaps as much as 100% of the flow. Therefore discharge should as closely match what would be natural is such a small Georgia piedmont stream · If GAEPD and/or the applicant assert that such materials and concerns are or would be nonexistent in the discharge or indeed very low, then NO ONE SHOULD OBJECT TO HAVING LIMITS!! · Only an onsite waterwater treatment system can achieve the level of cleanliness needed for such discharge. · AND, the stormwater from fuel-storage (for backup generators) and any other chemical-storage areas should be routed to an onsite wastewater treatment system OR be able to contain a 100-year storm rainfall event such that any contaminated water can be trucked off after the rain event. Thank you in advance for showing up and making your thoughts known. Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper | 
