Name:	Searay240 -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/14/2015 4:59:58 PM

Alabama Power submits formal response to letters written by residents of Pleasure Point Park to the FERC. Search for Docket Number p-349 at the following address:

http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/search/fercgensearch.asp

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/14/2015 9:36:43 PM

This direct link may help.  Suggest all interested parties read all documents.

link:  http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20150410-5059

Name:	HARRY -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/14/2015 10:46:08 PM

What arguments are the occupants using?

Name:	John C -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 7:53:52 AM

just FYI - I have been wondering about this too. I am getting a lawyer to email me all public documents related to this lawsuit so we can all easily read the source material. I will be posting it on my blog when I get it, and copying a link here. hopefully it will be helpful.

Name:	John C -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 8:04:31 AM

my cursory review of these documents leads to more than a few questions. 

Let's just consider the findings of the Tallapoosa County Health Department:

1.) too many homes on one septic

2.) raw black water sewage going into the lake

3.) raw gray water sewage going into the lake

My questions would be:

1.) where are the Hobos and LMRA on this?

2.) where are the environmental groups on this, e.g. Lake Watch?

3.) where is the overall outrage from the lake community?

It's pretty clear from reading these documents that BOTH the residents and PPI have known about this for quite a while and have done nothing. I will post what I find from the court proceedings.

Name:	Carnac -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 10:12:02 AM

John, you asked the question as to where are the HOBOs on the matter concerning Pleasure Point Park.  We continue to work every day to protect Lake Martin.  Our position remains the same as I indicated in the March 2014 issue of LAKE magazine and in many news interviews since then.  The mission of the HOBOs is to protect the lake.  Our mission is not to advocate for individual property owners or Lake Martin area businesses unless it is for the betterment of the lake.

We continue to stay on top of the situations at Pleasure Point Park and we have not read or heard anything that has caused us to change our position on the matter.  The HOBOs fully support the decisions made by the Tallapoosa County Health Department and the Alabama Power Company.

Name:	HARRY -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 10:36:30 AM

While I feel for those that lost in this whole deal I still wonder why some are still there if the lease is up and infractions have not been corrected.

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	HOBOs and Pleasure Point
Date:	4/15/2015 10:45:32 AM

The HOBOs were contacted by a couple of residents of Pleasure Point a couple of months after the eviction notice was made public by Alabama Power.  We talked with Health Department personnel, Alabama Power personnel, and made personal visits to Pleasure Point to observe as much as possible, such as personnally observing effulent seeping out of the ground in the middle of a dirt road, and we have continued to re-visit over the past months.  After considering all aspects of the situation, the HOBOs determined that Alabama Power and the Health Department were already doing what needed to be done to correct the situation.

Points to consider:

1.  Pleasure Point was created as a recreation area under licensing many years ago, but it was allowed to become a permanent residence trailer court over the years....a fault of the licensee, Alabama Power.  A recreation area allowed by FERC is generally an area set aside for swimming, boating, and/or short term camping, like Dare Park or boat ramps, not permanent residences.

2.  A Health Department supervisor informed us that there were 85 trailers on the property and only 25 approved septic systems were installed.  It is a failure of both the Health Department and Alabama Power to allow this condition to continue for decades.

3.  The sub-tenants were well aware of the violations created by themselves and the leaseholder.  Read the document filed above and you will plainly see the violations of both groups.

4.  The entire area is undermined by septic field lines....under trailers, under dirt roads, etc.; therefore, it would be impossible to correct the problems without removal of all trailers.

5.  By all appearances, all parties bear some responsibility for the conditions that were allowed to occur.  Alabama Power failed its duty to oversee the conditions of its own property and allowed it to operate in possible violation of its license.  The tenant landlord grossly violated septic regulations, did not maintain the septic systems installed, and encouraged continued violations by sub-tenants, and abandoned the property and sub-tenants when confronted with the violations.  The sub-tenants knew about the violations and even created a worse situation by dumping raw sewage into the lake.  If tenants had contacted the health department two decades ago there may have been some way to repair the park, but that didn't happen.

This is a difficult situation for all parties, but we feel Alabama Power and the Health Department will rectify the situation once the court case is decided.  BTW, there are still about 15-20 sub-tenants still occupying Pleasure Point, mostly the lake front property.

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 10:49:29 AM

I think the court has allowed them to stay pending the outcome of the case.

Name:	HARRY -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 11:01:43 AM

This is my understanding but I just questioned why blatant violations would not warrant immediate shutdown of facility until violations have been corrected. I guess if one files a lawsuit life goes on as if nothing was wrong until the court has time to hear the case.

Name:	John C -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/15/2015 12:20:29 PM

I agree with Harry. I don't get why, when the facts of pollution are undisputed, they get to go on dumping black and gray water into the lake.

Also, the way I read this, the minute AL Power was notified by the health department, they did something.

I look forward to getting the court documents since they are a primary source also. I am doing so at my own expense in order to see what the public record has about this suit.

Name:	redleg6 -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/16/2015 8:36:51 AM

John C, you mentioned Lake Watch and here is a response.

We've conducted monthly water quality testing on many sites around the lake for over 20 years through the parameters of Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Alkalinity, Hardness, Temperature (air & water), and Turbidity. Results are sent to Auburn University. These parameters were selected to determine the overall health of the lake, and they were paramount in obtaining the coveted designation of Treasured Alabama Lake by the Alabama Department of environmental Management.

However, those tests do not test for bacteria, although I have done occasional bacteria testing in the Pleasure Point area with no adverse results.  Those techniques are designed more for relatively large bacterial pollution such as municipal wastewater treatment plants and, unless there is a specific spot to test, do not identify individual septic systems that are failing.  Too much dillution.

Like the HOBOs and LMRA, we depend largely on citizen reporting...the lake is simply too big to cover with volunteers.  My personal opinion is that the situation is being handled correctly by Alabama Power Company and the County Health Department.

John, you do a great service to the lake community...thanks.

Dick Bronson

Name:	John C -	Reply
Subject:	Alabama Power vs Pleasure Point Park
Date:	4/16/2015 4:17:31 PM

Mr. Bronson, that makes perfect sense now that I consider your points. I knew y'all tested but didn't really know the type of testing. Thanks for the reply!!