A site within Union County could be served by one of three primary water systems:

        the City of Blairsville Water System,
        the Notla Water Authority or
        the Coosa Water Authority.

Water service to various industrial sites in Union County is provided as listed below:

The City operates a public water system under Permit # 1144A0001 issued by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division. The system serves about 1,300 customers inside the city and just outside of town. The Blairsville system receives its raw water from the Nottely River and from groundwater from four deep wells drilled into crystalline rock formation. Surface water from the river flows through a 20 inch gravity line to the raw water pumping station which is equipped with three 400 g.p.m. pumps, and to the water treatment plant through an 8 inch force main.

A total of 360 G.P.M. is available to supplement the treatment plant or to use for emergency. The "State Permit to Use Groundwater" limits groundwater withdrawal to 400,000 G.P.D. on a monthly average and 400,000 G.P.D. on an annual average.

Blairsville Water Treatment Plant

Opened in 1986, the Blairsville water treatment plant is a conventional surface water facility consisting of flash mix, 3-stage mechanical flocculator, 2 sedimentation basins, 3 dual media filters with sweeps and Wheeler bottoms. Process chemicals used include alum, lime and chlorine pre-filter and lime, chlorine and fluoride post-filter. The plant capacity is 864 G.P.M. or 1.24-million G.P.D.. A 200,000 gallon clearwell provides finished water storage at the plant and three 400 G.P.M. high service pumps supply water to the system through a 10 inch main.

The Coosa Water Authority operates a public water supply system under Permit 2144A1373 issued by GA DNR, EPD and serves about 250 customers in the area southwest of Blairsville. This agency currently does not provide any sewer service.

Coosa Water Authority has 3 wells:

The Notla Water Authority operates a new water treatment plant with a permitted capacity of 1-million gallons per day just northeast of the Nottely Dam.  Notla Water Authority operates a public water system under Permit # 2144A0634 issued by GA DNR, EPD. The system is approved to serve 2,250 customers north of Blairsville and around Lake Nottely. The Notla Water Authority has 7 wells, but Well #5 is only used in emergencies:

Water from these wells is treated with chlorine and fluoride (softened from two wells) and pumped directly into the system. Finished water is stored in prestressed concrete hillside ground storage tanks and distributed through 2 inch to 8 inch mains. The Notla water supply is supplemented by a 6" connection to the Blairsville water system.

First 2,000 gallons/month @ $35.00 flat rate.

Over 2,000 gallons/month @ $ 2.50/1,000 gallons.

First 2,000 gallons/month for $26.00

All over 2,000 gallons at $2.65 per 1,000 gallons

*MGD = Million Gallons per Day

The nearest hazardous waste disposal site is in Emelle, Alabama.

Electric power is distributed in Union County by the Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation, with headquarters in Young Harris, 9 miles east of Blairsville. Blue Ridge Mountain EMC is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) distributor currently serving 33,000 accounts in an 1,150 square mile service area which includes 3 counties in north Georgia and 2 counties in western North Carolina. Blue Ridge Mountain EMC is constantly expanding, (595 new Union County electric customers in 2000), committed to quality, low-cost electric service and offers a full range of electrical engineering and industrial energy management programs.

TVA is a federal corporation serving more than 7-million people with low-cost, reliable electric power. Union County is served from the Tennessee Valley Authority's transmission system. The transmission voltage supplying Union County is 69 kV.

Coal from Kentucky and Tennessee is the energy source that produces 60% of TVA's electricity. Two nuclear plants produce an additional 15%. Hydro-electric generators produce 15%. The remaining 10% is produced by alternate fossil fuels for peak demand.

In Union County, is should be noted that extremely reliable power service can be provided to a new facility. Dual-loop feed can be provided if necessary, insuring a high level of reliability. Under this method of service, a fault in one source of power would automatically result in switching to another source.

Union County is not included in the area of Georgia that offers customer choice.

Blue Ridge Mountain EMC rates are already well below the national and state averages for commercial and industrial power costs.

For new construction or expansion, testing and restart power allowances are available for the first 6 months.

Landline

Landline telephone service for Union County is provided by Windstream Communications (formerly Alltel), which offers direct-dial digital service and a DMS 100 switch located in Blairsville.  Windstream Communications offers trained service technicians to maintain almost any business system sold.  The digital switching system has "state-of-the-art" communications technology.  Windstream Communications cooperates with all the other long-lines systems.  Trunks and other facilities are available upon request.  Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Caller I. D., Speed Calling, Three-Way Calling, Voice Mail, WATTS, 800 service,  dial-up,DSL, fiber-to-the-home Internet service (coming soon).  Telex service and FX lines are available.     www.windstreamcommunications.com

Wireless (Cellular)

Wireless (cell) telephone service is available from either Cingular or Verizon Wireless throughout the Blue Ridge, Blairsville, Young Harris, and Hiawassee area.  Numerous cellular towers serve customers in the area.  Both providers operate sales outlets across the region.   www.cingular.com
www.verizonwireless.com

BROADBAND INTERNET & IT TRANSPORT SERVICES

IT services available locally include wireless Internet (802.11x), fiber-optic (Ethernet & SONET), DSL, various levels of broadband (T-1, T-3, etc.), and dial-up.  Union County boasts multiple Certificated Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC's)) providing middle-mile transport.  A few strong last-mile Internet Service Providers (ISP's) operate within the footprint of Union County, some of which can provide middle and last mile connectivity.  Most of these networks, while privately owned, offer open access to any customer and can deliver VoIP, IPTV and other IT-based products.  Union County providers offer middle-mile transport via redundant underground fiber to multiple POP's including Atlanta (56 Marietta), Chattanooga, Charlotte, and others.  There are over 150 miles of fiber optic cable within Union County, owned and maintained by various public and private entities.

BalsamWest FiberNET, LLC  is a middle-mile transport provider offering open access to its underground, redundant fibe-optic (SONET) network with connectivity to several major southeastern POP's  and multiple ISP's.  BalsamWest is a privately-held company owner by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Drake Enterprises offering data transport at Atlanta and Washington, D.C. metro pricing schedules.     www.balsamwest.org

Blue Ridge Mountain EMC.NET is a major local Internet Service Provider (ISP) operating fiber-optic (underground and redundant), DSL, wireless (802.11x), and dial-up networks, and offering bundled middle and last-mile Internet services.
www.brmemc.net

Windstream Communications (see "Landline" section above.)

Other companies provide dial-up Internet service in the Union County area including Dnet and PeoplePC.
www.dnet.net
www.peoplepc.com