Time is running out for the public to comment on a proposal by Rabun County, Ga., to convert a closed-down Fruit of the Loom plant into a sewer treatment plant and discharge the wastewater into the Little Tennessee River.

The Little Tennessee River flows north into Macon County and ultimately into Lake Fontana. The Little Tennessee Watershed Association is concerned about the plant. The town of Dillard, where the plant is located, already operates a wastewater plant that discharges 200,000 gallons a day into the same stretch of river.

Moreover, LTWA says the river is already impaired and has a poor water quality rating in Georgia and North Carolina. The Fruit of the Loom plant was listed as the likely cause of the poor water quality because it was discharging pollutants into the river, according to LTWA.

The LTWA will request that the Environmental Protection Division hold a formal public hearing in the watershed to give people a chance to ask questions and submit comments on the plant.

For more information contact the LTWA at 828.369.6402.

— Staff reports

Want to comment?

The public can submit its comments on the project to the Environmental Protection Division, 4220 International Parkway, Suite 101, Atlanta, 30354. The deadline is April 15.