By Leslie N. Dees
March 05, 2008 10:11 am
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The Attala County Board of Supervisors and others addressed their concerns about Atmos Energy moving utilities for the county road projects and an issue that is slowing down growth at the Industrial Park to Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley at the board meeting on Monday morning.
“This has been a long drawn out deal over several different projects,” Supervisor and Board President Charles Fancher said. “I know I have had some issues in the past.” Currently, Supervisor Tim Pinkard is having some problems with Atmos moving some gas lines and it is holding up work on bridges in his district.
“I feel that utility companies are making a profit and they should try to work with these communities and fix these problems, Presley said.
Industrial Park
Gas pressure at the Industrial Park was another subject discussed.
Currently, Attala Steel and Trinity Highway Products, which are across the street from one another, are not being able to run consistently due to gas pressure, Kosciusko-Attala Development Corporation Steve Zea said.
Zea said Trinity wants to add more products and Attala Steel wants to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week but without more gas pressure this is not going to happen.
“They have made countless attempts to get Atmos to boost the gas pressure out there,” Zea said.
“We would like to grow,” Attala Steel’s Mark Lindsey said. “We haven’t had the volume of gas. It has gone to zero and what that does is put our furnace in emergency mode and shuts everything down.”
Lindsey said it cost them a great deal of money when this happens.
He added that he wants to add more shifts but in order to do that he is going to have to have more gas pressure.
“The fear we have is that if both these operations run out there – There are some residents in that area. They are going to suck the pilot lights out of homes due to a pull on the system,” Zea said. “It creates a danger at the plant and a danger at the homes.”
Presley sought a documented sequence of events from those in attendance.
“We’ve got to build a case,” Presley said. “If we can provide them with some real good documentation, then it makes it hard to wiggle out of it.”
Highway 43
“Let’s just say that Highway 43 is a long on-going project,” Zea said. “It’s really tore up out there and people out in the area are sucking gravel and dust and it’s just going to get worse.”
County and City Engineer Christian Gardner explained that the Mississippi Department of Transportation project was to widen Highway 43 and add sidewalks.
About three years ago, Gardner said MDOT asked for the movement of utilities.
When you find a physical conflict on the project, Gardner said the contract has to stop work and move out of the project until it is resolved.
“The one company that we can’t get to move anything is Atmos,” Gardner said. “Their local people want to help but they don’t have the manpower.”
Several in attendance, like Gardner, said on the local level the people of Atmos have always done what they were able to do.
Atmos was contacted about the meeting but was not present.
Presley said his office would begin working on this problem immediately.
“We want to help you,” Presley said.
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