The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will hold a public hearing in March on a proposed consent order with King America Finishing. While investigating a massive fish kill on the Ogeechee River in May 2011, state regulators found the Screven County textile processor to be operating a fire retardant line without a permit.
A $1 million consent order signed with the company in 2011 was invalidated in July, in part because of a lack of public input. The new draft consent order, also totalling $1 million in projects and including a $766,391 ecology study at Georgia Southern University, was released in October. Requests prompted the public hearing.
The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on March 5 at the Effingham County High School, located at 1589 Highway 119 South, Springfield, Georgia 31329.